Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Winnipeg Sun:

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister declared “victory in Baghdad” yesterday, claiming U.S. and Iraqi troops have chased al-Qaida in Iraq out of the capital in the year since a security crackdown began, and vowing to pursue insurgents who have fled northward.

In remarks broadcast on state television, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki thanked the U.S. military and its allies for “standing with us in defeating terrorism.”

CHASING OUTLAWS

“Today our forces are locked in battle against outlaws in Nineveh and we are chasing them,” he added, referring to the northwestern province where Iraqi officials say al-Qaida in Iraq has regrouped. Tal Afar is in Nineveh province.

The Shiite leader has promised a “decisive battle” in that region, although U.S. commanders have said it will be more a protracted fight.

The U.S. military launched its so-called surge to clear Baghdad and surrounding areas on Feb. 14, 2007, with the 82nd Airborne Division as the vanguard of an American troop buildup that climbed to 30,000 extra U.S. soldiers by the summer. After a sharp initial spike in military and civilian casualties, violence has declined sharply.