• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

U.S. 'Winning' Unpopular War in Iraq, but 'Losing' Popular War in Afghanistan

Council on Foreign Relations

Interviewee: Anthony H. Cordesman, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, the Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington
Interviewer: Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor

September 8, 2008

military affairs in the Middle East, says that "substantial progress" has been achieved in the last eighteen months in Iraq. There are enough political questions remaining, however, to leave the future open to question. He says none of the comments on Iraq from the campaigns of Sen. Barack Obama (D_IL) or Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) can be taken seriously because the two candidates are operating in a "theatre of the absurd." Ironically, he notes that even as the security situation has improved in Iraq, it has worsened in Afghanistan.

As the United States heads toward its presidential election, both sides are talking about Iraq. What is your evaluation of the situation there now?

We have largely been able to defeat the activities of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the insurgent groups that supported it. It is important to note, however, that there is a still significant residual level of violence because it is almost impossible to stop suicide bombings, car bombings, and the occasional use of improvised explosive devices [IEDs]. There are still al-Qaeda support areas in the north around Mosul and in Diyala Province. This is not a force that is defeated as much as suppressed and sharply reduced.

The second threat that most people saw at least at the beginning of the surge was the faction led by Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi militia. The result of the fighting in Basra, the operations in Baghdad and in Sadr City, and Sadr's choice, really, to concentrate on political options, has meant that the Mahdi militia is far weaker than it has been. But it hasn’t turned its weapons over.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.