The full contingent of new U.S. forces being sent to Iraq -- what military leaders call a "surge" of troops to improve security and stability in the capital -- was completed by Friday, with 28,500 additional troops now posted in the country, a U.S. military spokesman said.
"The strategic movement of forces into the theater is complete, and the surge is just starting," said U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver. "Now that the force is here, we'll see the counterinsurgency start in full swing, and we'll be able to execute the strategy as it was designed."
Well, not exactly. The surge has been underway since February; it's not as if those troops have been sitting in their bases waiting for their rest of their fellow soldiers to get there before they trooped out into the streets. But it is nonetheless a critical moment. The last military strategy to foil the insurgency is now fully underway. There's nothing left after this. In that sense, the end of our occupation in Iraq begins...now.
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This means the full "surge" will have been in effect for more than three months when Gen. Petraeus gives his report in September. There really will be no excuses for lack of progress.
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