Petraeus: "We are attriting them at a fearsome rate"

This interview with General Petraeus in yesterday's New York Post hasn't gotten as much attention as it ought. Here's the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq articulating the early success of the president's new strategy, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised, but the general is clearly optimistic.

Speaking on the new strategy of establishing Joint Security Stations in Iraqi neighborhoods, Petraeus says that "After our guys are in the neighborhood for four or five days, the people realize they're not going to just leave them like we did in the past. Then they begin to come in with so much information on the enemy that we can't process it fast enough."

On the Anbar Salvation Council:

"All of the sheiks up there are businessmen . . . they are entrepreneurial and involved in scores of different businesses. The presence of the foreign fighters is hitting them hard in the pocketbook and they are tired of it."

On Sadr City:

"We're clearing it neighborhood by neighborhood." Troops move in - mainly U.S. soldiers and Marines supported by Iraqi forces, although that ratio is reversed in some areas - and stay. They are not transiting back to large, remote bases but are now living with the people they have come to protect. The results, Petraeus says, have been "dramatic."

"We're using 'soft knock' clearing procedures and bringing the locals in on our side," he notes. By being in the neighborhoods, getting to know the people and winning their trust, the soldiers have allowed the people to turn against the al Qaeda terrorists, whom they fear and loathe. Petraeus says his goal is to pull al Qaeda out "by its roots, wherever it tries to take hold."

On the rules of engagement (ROE):

"I've made two things clear," Petraeus emphasized: "My ROE may not be modified with supplemental guidance lower down. And I've written a letter to all Coalition forces saying 'your chain-of-command will stay with you.' I think that solved the issue."

Finally, on the surge's effect in Baghdad:

"Less than half the al Qaeda leaders who were in Baghdad when this [surge] campaign began are still in the city," he said. "They have fled or are being killed or captured. We are attriting them at a fearsome rate."

As Bill Roggio has noted here before, the success in Baghdad has forced al Qaeda to fight a "commuter insurgency" from the provinces surrounding the city. But without first pacifying Baghdad, little else can be achieved. So, while Petraeus warns that we will only "be able to evaluate the situation for sure by late summer," for the first time in a long time, victory seems possible.