Guy W. Farmer: Petraeus has set the stage for an honorable exit from Iraq

As Gen. David Petraeus departed Iraq late last month, he made a number of interesting comments about the war, but he didn't claim victory. And that was important because premature declarations of victory " think "Mission Accomplished!" " make soldiers and politicians look silly later on. Gen. Petraeus has learned this vital political/military lesson; President Bush hasn't.

According to "The War Within," Bob Woodward's most recent inside-the-White House book, Bush kept reporting progress on the Iraq War long after it was clear that we weren't making progress. But after Gen. Petraeus assumed command of U.S. forces in Iraq in February '07, Washington began receiving accurate reports. The general's "surge" strategy is a major success and violence has declined in that war-torn country. In fact, more American troops are now being killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq and Petraeus will turn his attention to Afghanistan as he takes over the U.S. Central Command, which operates across the Middle East.

At the outset of his Iraqi command, Petraeus told his troops that their mission was "hard but not hopeless," but now he describes the situation as "still hard but hopeful." The general's strategy of deploying five extra Army brigades and three Marine units to Iraq was aimed at reducing violence enough to create space for the economy to revive and for political reconciliation to begin. That last goal is the hardest part of the mission because Iraqi politicians still haven't figured out how to bring feuding factions " the ruling Shias, who want to consolidate their power; Saddam Hussein's fractious and resentful Sunnis; and the independent Kurds " together to heal the fragile country's war wounds.

"Slowly, but inexorably, the tide began to turn," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates as Petraeus turned over his Iraqi command to an experienced deputy, Gen. Ray Odierno. "Our enemies took a fearsome beating they will not soon forget ... (and) the soldiers of Iraq found new courage and confidence," Gates continued. Well, I certainly hope so because it's taken far too long " more than five years " for Iraqi military forces and politicians to take control of their own country.

According to David Ignatius of the Washington Post, who attended the change-of-command ceremony, Petraeus "restored confidence and purpose for a (U.S.) military that had begun to think, deep down, that this war was unwinnable and unsustainable." That's quite an achievement, given the conditions that Petraeus inherited. Many civilian and military leaders had given up on Iraq and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) declared the war "lost." Reid was wrong, but he and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama have yet to admit that the surge was a success.

Iraq for the Iraqis

I worry that Obama will withdraw our troops from Iraq too quickly if he wins in November and I'm equally concerned about Republican John McCain's "stay the course" strategy because I don't think the American people will ever support an open-ended commitment to Iraq. The war has gone on long enough and we should turn Iraq over to the Iraqis by beginning a phased, unannounced withdrawal of our troops.

"The ending will almost certainly be ragged," Ignatius wrote. "Iraqi political institutions are still fragile and in some cases nonexistent (and) the country could still be sundered by a Sunni-Shiite civil war. But Iraq now has at least a chance to make it," thanks to Gen. Petraeus and his troops.

And now we need a diplomatic surge. The biggest American embassy in the world is in Baghdad so that our diplomats, with assistance from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other western democracies, can help the Iraqis to achieve political reconciliation. The Iraq War won't be "won" until and unless that happens, a fact that has been recognized by Secretary Gates and Gen. Petraeus, who have called for more resources for the State Department. As an ex-diplomat, I want the next president to keep sufficient military forces in Iraq to protect civilian employees from State, the Agency for International Development and other agencies involved in political reconciliation and reconstruction. At all of the embassies where I served, fine young Marine guards were our first line of defense. God bless 'em.

Given the diminished level of violence in Iraq, I hope that our diplomats can finally move out of the "hooches" (packing crates) they've been living in and engage Iraqi leaders and ordinary citizens. It's difficult to conduct diplomacy from inside an armored Humvee. Thinking back to my own experience as a press attache', what self-respecting Iraqi newspaper editor would want to meet an embassy official who pulls up outside his office in a heavily armored Humvee? That's a death sentence in some parts of Iraq.

As David Ignatius wrote, "Petraeus and his president, George W. Bush ... didn't win in Iraq, but they created the possibility of an honorable exit." And that's what we want from our next president " an honorable exit from Iraq so that we can turn our attention to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the real War On Terror is intensifying.

Guy W. Farmer, a semi-retired journalist and former U.S. diplomat, resides in Carson City.