Writing at National Review Online, Kimberly Kagan of the Institute for the Study of War talks about the revitalized Dora Market in Baghdad as a sign of success in Iraq. Kagan attributes the Petraeus strategy significant credit and in doing so takes a swipe at the Washington Post for its slanted reporting on the Dora success (h/t Instapundit):
In Wednesday’s Washington Post, Sudarsan Raghavan, criticized the Dora market in an article called "Weighing the ‘Surge’: The U.S. War in Iraq Hinges on the Counterinsurgency Strategy Of Gen. Petraeus. The Results Have Been Tenuous." The Dora market is a frequent stop for visitors to Iraq assessing the progress of “the surge.” Raghavan criticizes the market, and the frequent visits it receives from distinguished guests of General Petraeus: “[T]he Dora market is a Potemkin village of sorts. The U.S. military hands out $2,500 grants to shop owners to open or improve their businesses. The military has fixed windows and doors and even helped rebuild shops that had burned down, soldiers and others said.”
Yet when one considers the 300 shops reopened in the Dora market in the context of the past year, rather than in pre-2003 terms (more than 800 shops then, according to Raghavan), it is easy to understand why General Petraeus might think it worthwhile for visitors to see the Dora market. What had once been a burial pit and an insurgent stronghold is now a place of business. Yes, American funds have been used. And no, the opening of the Dora market did not secure Dora. But the clearing of Dora has made possible the reopening of the Dora market — which is now fair evidence of the value of the new strategy and tactics that General Petraeus brought to Iraq. It may seem like a “Potemkin village” to those ignorant of the changes in that neighborhood over the past 12 months — or to those determined to cast doubt on the possibility of American success in Iraq. But to anyone who visited Dora — as I did in May (on two battlefield circulations through the neighborhood, not the market) — while American forces were embarking on the extremely dangerous and difficult task of dismantling the al Qaeda stronghold and fending off JAM fighters, the Dora market is indeed a symbol. It is a symbol of the success that is possible when we persevere in the right approach in Iraq.
