•HRES 1475 IH 
Whereas by the end of 2006, insurgents and death squads 
were killing more than 3,000 civilians in Iraq each month 
and coalition forces were sustaining more than 1,200 at-
tacks each week; 
Whereas in December 2006, the Iraq Study Group warned 
that ‘‘the United States is facing one of its most difficult 
and significant international challenges in decades’’ in 
Iraq and that ‘‘Iraq is vital to regional and even global 
stability, and is critical to U.S. interests’’; 
Whereas in December 2004, Osama bin Laden said the fol-
lowing of the war in Iraq: ‘‘The most important and seri-
ous issue today for the whole world is this Third World 
War. . . . The world’s millstone and pillar is Baghdad, 
the capital of the caliphate.’’; 
Whereas on January 10, 2007, in an address to the Nation, 
President George W. Bush acknowledged that the situa-
tion in Iraq was ‘‘unacceptable’’ and announced his in-
tention to put in place a new strategy, subsequently 
known as ‘‘the surge’’; 
Whereas President Bush nominated and the Senate con-
firmed General David H. Petraeus as the Commander of 
Multi-National Forces—Iraq, a position he assumed on 
February 10, 2007; 
Whereas General Petraeus, upon assuming command, and in 
partnership with Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, 
the Commander of Multi-National Corps—Iraq, and 
United States Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, devel-
oped a comprehensive civil-military counterinsurgency 
campaign plan to reverse Iraq’s slide into chaos, defeat 
the enemies of the United States in Iraq, and, in partner-
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•HRES 1475 IH 
ship with the Iraqi Security Forces and the Government 
of Iraq, reestablish security across the country; 
Whereas, under the previous strategy, the overwhelming ma-
jority of United States combat forces were concentrated 
on a small number of large forward operating bases and 
were not assigned the mission of providing security for 
the people of Iraq against insurgents, terrorists, and mili-
tia fighters, in part because there were insufficient mem-
bers of the United States Armed Forces in Iraq to do so; 
Whereas, as an integral component of the surge, approxi-
mately 5 additional United States Army brigades and 2 
United States Marine Corps battalions were deployed to 
Iraq; 
Whereas, as an integral component of the surge, members of 
the United States Armed Forces were deployed out of 
large forward operating bases onto small bases through-
out 
Baghdad 
and 
other 
key 
population 
centers, 
partnering with the Iraqi Security Forces to provide se-
curity for the local population against insurgents, terror-
ists, and militia fighters; 
Whereas additional members of the United States Armed 
Forces began moving into Iraq in January 2007 and 
reached full strength in June 2007; 
Whereas, as a consequence of the additional forces needed in 
Iraq, in April 2007 the United States Army added 3 
months to the standard year-long tour for all active duty 
soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the United States 
Marine Corps added 3 months to the standard 6-month 
tour for all active duty Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan; 
Whereas, as an integral component of the surge, members of 
the United States Armed Forces began simultaneous and 
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•HRES 1475 IH 
successive offensive operations, in partnership with the 
Iraqi Security Forces, of unprecedented breadth, con-
tinuity, and sophistication, striking multiple enemy safe 
havens and lines of communication at the same time; 
Whereas, as an integral component of the surge, additional 
members of the United States Armed Forces were de-
ployed to Anbar province to provide essential support to 
the nascent tribal revolt against al Qaeda in that prov-
ince; 
Whereas those additional members of the United States 
Armed Forces played a critical role in the success and 
spread of anti-Qaeda Sunni tribal groups in Anbar prov-
ince and subsequently in other regions of Iraq; 
Whereas, since the start of the surge in January 2007, there 
have been marked and hopeful improvements in almost 
every political, security, and economic indicator in Iraq; 
Whereas in 2007, General Petraeus described Iraq as ‘‘the 
central front of al Qaeda’s global campaign’’; 
Whereas in 2008, as a consequence of the success of the 
surge, al Qaeda has been dealt what Director of Central 
Intelligence Michael Hayden assesses as a ‘‘near strategic 
defeat’’ in Iraq; 
Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, mili-
tias backed by the Government of Iran have been routed 
from major population centers in Iraq and no longer con-
trol significant swaths of territory; 
Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, sec-
tarian violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically and has 
been almost entirely eliminated; 
Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, overall 
insurgent attacks have fallen by approximately 80 per-
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•HRES 1475 IH 
cent since June 2007 and are at their lowest level since 
March 2004; 
Whereas as a consequence of the success of the surge, United 
States casualties in Iraq have dropped dramatically and 
United States combat deaths in Iraq in July 2008 were 
lower than in any other month since the beginning of the 
war; 
Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, the 
Government of Iraq has made significant strides in ad-
vancing sectarian reconciliation and achieving political 
progress, including the passage of key benchmark legisla-
tion; 
Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, the 
Iraqi Security Forces have improved markedly and ap-
proximately 70 percent of Iraqi combat battalions are 
now leading operations in their areas; and 
Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, Gen-
eral Petraeus concluded in 2008 that conditions on the 
ground in Iraq could permit the additional brigades and 
battalions dispatched to Iraq in 2007 as part of the surge 
to be safely redeployed without replacement, and all such 
brigades and battalions have been successfully withdrawn 
without replacement: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House— 
(1) commends and expresses its gratitude to the 
men and women of the United States Armed Forces 
for the service, sacrifices, and heroism that made the 
success of the troop surge in Iraq possible; 
(2) commends and expresses its gratitude to 
General David H. Petraeus, General Raymond 
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•HRES 1475 IH 
Odierno, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker for the dis-
tinguished wartime leadership that made the success 
of the troop surge in Iraq possible; 
(3) recognizes the success of the troop surge in 
Iraq and its strategic significance in advancing the 
vital national interests of the United States in Iraq, 
the Middle East, and the world, in particular as a 
strategic victory in a central front of the war on ter-
rorism; and 
(4) recognizes that the hard-won gains achieved 
as a result of the troop surge in Iraq are significant 
but not yet permanent and that it is imperative that 
no action be taken that jeopardizes those gains or 
dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and 
women of the United States Armed Forces who 
made those gains possible. 
Æ 
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