Hugh Hewitt had a taped interview today with Commander, Multi-National Forces Iraq.
Listen to the Audio here (32 minutes) or read the Transcript here, it's worth the time. Consider it an early report on what we might hear in September. I wonder if the democrat leadership in Congress will have time to listen to General Petraeus this time.
From the transcript:
HH: Some have warned that a genocide of sorts, or absolute terms, would follow a precipitous withdrawal of coalition forces. Do you agree that that is a possibility, or a…and a significant one?There is little doubt the terrorists, al Qaeda in Iraq, play to the media. Every time the democratics make Iraq surrender a center piece of Congressional debate, the terrorists ramp up their efforts, staging spectacular and deadly attacks that are sure to garner headlines and be featured on the nightly newsDP: Well, obviously, it depends on the conditions when we withdraw. I mean, eventually, we are going to withdraw. We cannot maintain the surge forever, as everyone knows. There’s always been an intention that the surge would be a somewhat temporary endeavor. So it has to do with the conditions at that time. I mean, we saw the sectarian violence of late 2006 and early 2007, and obviously, that was very tragic, and really quite horrific in a number of Baghdad neighborhoods. It literally changed the face of Baghdad. It struck at the very fabric of Iraqi society in places like Baghdad, and in other mixed, sectarian areas. And again, unless the conditions are sustainable by the Iraqis, one would certainly expect that sectarian violence would resume at a very high level. That’s not to say there’s not still some going on right now, although the level in June was about the lowest in a year, and we’re certainly trying to sustain that. I don’t know this month whether we can, given the two horrific bombings that took place, however that is certainly what we’re trying and fighting to do.
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