Ivo Daalder, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Julian Barnes, Pentagon reporter for U.S. News and World Report, and Maj. General Bill Nash, U.S. Army-Retired, senior fellow and director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations, discuss the U.S. military strategy in Iraq in the lead-up to the elections.
U.S. military commanders assert that the coalition is making progress against the Iraqi insurgency and elections are possible. However, some scholars believe that the overall security situation continues to deteriorate, despite minor gains against the insurgents. The number of attacks has risen from 400 per month at the beginning of the year to a staggering rate of 1,800-2,400 attacks a month. The over 20,000 Iraqi insurgents will make the January elections difficult, particularly in the Sunni dominated parts of Iraq.
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Commentary
U.S. Military Strategy in Iraq
December 6, 2004