November 28, 2005

Winning in Iraq

Heritage President Edwin Feulner, Ambassador Evan Galbraith and Brigadier General Mark Kimmit admire a ballot from Iraq's historic January elections.

“I think we are winning in Iraq,” Brigadier General Mark Kimmit told a packed house this morning at The Heritage Foundation.

Speaking alongside Ambassador Evan Galbraith, the Department of Defense liaison to NATO, Brigadier General Kimmit stressed that Iraq is well on its way to establishing a secure and free government.

Iraqi forces, trained by American and NATO specialists, should soon be ready to defend their own country, Brigadier General Kimmit explained. The new Iraqi units, while “not yet ready to handle the entire fight,” are “fighting hard, fighting well [and] not cracking under pressure.”

The two experts also noted that America is winning the battle for “hearts and minds.”
“The component parts for a successful government are there,” Ambassador Galbraith said. Extraordinary political progress has been made, as seen in the recent passage of the Iraqi constitution, while the economy continues to boom with an astounding 17 percent growth rate.

With its increasing oil revenues and promises of law and order, Ambassador Galbraith said, the new government to be chosen on December 15 will act as a “magnet” for many of those who have so far shunned the Baghdad leadership, notably the Sunnis. Momentum is on the side of the new government, he said, so it is in the interests of all sides to “get on the bandwagon.”

While the new government may stumble and insurgent activity may continue, the ambassador cautioned, “the preponderance of evidence is for success.”

Brigadier General Kimmit also sounded a note of warning, insisting that things could still go wrong for the American effort in Iraq, especially if we withdraw too soon or . “We are making progress,” he said, but we are not yet “at a point of irreversible momentum.”

The event, "How to Win in Iraq," was broadcast live on C-SPAN from Heritage's Lehrman Auditorium and covered by several domestic and international news organizations.

About this event

• Watch the event at Heritage.org
• Event details

Relevant Heritage research

• James Carafano, “In Iraq, Fear Shouldn't Be Our Guide,” November 18, 2005
• James Phillips, “Firm and Patient Realism Needed in Iraq,” June 23, 2005