Pace Says 'Surge' Progress Will Be Evident by September

By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

May 18, 2007 – By September, military officials will have a pretty good feel for whether the "military part" of the president's surge strategy is working, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace said here today. Pace spoke to about 1,000 students and alumni at the 55th annual management conference of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Following his address on leadership, Pace answered questions from the audience.

On the surge, Pace explained that four of the five brigades of about 3,000 to 3,500 troops each that the U.S. military is "plussing up" are currently in Iraq. The fifth is in Kuwait and will be in Iraq by the beginning of June.

"From June until September," he said, "we'll have the opportunity to watch the increased U.S. presence on the ground, and the increased Iraqi unit presence on the ground, and the effect that it has on security, primarily in Baghdad."

The increase in troops is only one part of a three-pronged approach to ending the war in Iraq, he noted.

"Increased troop strength in and of itself is not going to be sufficient," he stressed. "You must have an increase in governance and an increase in economics."

Success in the war on terrorism, Pace said, is not like the success of World War II. The end state will be much more like the current state of a U.S. city, such as Chicago.

"Is there violence here? Yes," he said. "Is there a police force that keeps that violence below a level at which the government can function and the citizenry can go about their daily business? This is what you're looking at with the war on terror. ...

"You'll never stop all terrorist acts," he said. The goal is to have "the security is solid enough so that the government can provide leadership and so the business world can provide jobs so people can prosper."

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