U.S. military touts progress in Iraq

[Henry Hawk]

U.S. military touts progress in Iraq
By UPI Staff
United Press International
November 3, 2006

BAGHDAD (UPI) -- The chief spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq Thursday touted the progress being made in building an independent Iraqi security force.

"A transition is not always a pleasant thing to watch as it happens," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said at a briefing. "But when common goals are achieved, speed bumps and differences of opinion along the way are soon forgotten."

The story on the briefing released by the Armed Forces Press Service did not include Caldwell's most arresting metaphor -- "a lump of clay can become a sculpture; blobs of paint can become a painting that inspires." Rather, that was quoted in The Swamp, a blog by a Chicago Tribune correspondent who added: "I'm not making this up."

Caldwell listed a number of benchmarks, including the previously announced addition of 12,000 soldiers to Iraq's military and plans to add another 18,700, and progress in training Iraqi forces to the point where they can lead operations.

Caldwell said the U.S. military's changes in strategy in Baghdad have shown flexibility. For example, he said the placing of checkpoints was changed this week to make movement easier for local residents.