It's his fifth visit to Iraq and what has he found?
Baghdad, the most dangerous city in all of Iraq, is only half as violent as it was when I was there during the summer. And the fact that the capital is now the deadliest city is itself evidence of a tectonic shift on the ground.
In the spring of 2007, Ramadi was the most violent place in Iraq. But the insurgency there has been finished. The Taji area north of Baghdad, which was a catastrophe when I paid a visit in July, is now going the way of Ramadi.
I am writing these words from Fallujah, site of the most horrific battle of the entire war in November 2004, and the city thought to be the meanest in Iraq since at least the time of the British in Mesopotamia.
Almost everyone I know back home was sure I'd be shot at every day, that it's still a war zone out here. Based on the news reports – even the new, optimistic ones, could you blame them for thinking that?
But attacks against coalition forces in Fallujah are down by more than 90% since March of this year. Almost all attacks these days are single, ineffective pot shots rather than the lethal IEDs of last year.
The only word that comes to mind is "breathtaking." Though I'm sure Gen. Petraeus' war plan had nothing to do with it. They decided to stop blowing themselves up because they wanted to see how Lions for Lambs panned out.
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