PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE General Charles C. "Hondo" Campbell, commander of the United States Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Ga., talks with Olivia Upp after speaking to the Lampasas County Conservative Club about the war in Iraq. American soldiers and Iraqi security forces have quelled violence substantially in Iraq, four-star general Charles C. "Hondo" Campbell told an audience of about 60 at a recent Lampasas County Conservative Club meeting.

Both Sunni and Shiite insurgents have been seriously undermined, said Campbell, who leads the United States Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Ga. Because Sunnis in Iraq have split with al-Qaida, Campbell added, the terrorist network now poses less of a threat to Iraqi security than it did earlier in the war.

In addition, Iraqi security forces now exercise exclusive control of nine of the 18 provinces in their na- tion, Campbell said. Security breeches and American deaths are occurring at their lowest rates in four years, he added.

"By every measure there has been a precipitous decline in violence," the general said.

Iraqi security forces helped defeat insurgents in Sadr City, Mosul and Basra, cities that now are gaining stability, Campbell said. Many terrorists fled to Iran, the general said, and Campbell expects them to return to challenge Iraqi troops.

"But when they return they will encounter security forces that are stronger and are more opposed to their presence," he said.

In addition, the Iraqi government has met "virtually every requirement" Congress set a year ago, Campbell said. In its recent report to Congress, USA Today reported July 1, the White House claimed Iraqis had made "satisfactory" progress in 15 of 18 categories.

Sunni participation in Iraq's government now appears possible, Campbell added. He emphasized the responsibility of the Iraqi and Afghan people to strengthen their countries.

"It remains to be seen whether Iraq and Afghanistan will nobly save or meanly lose the great, but fleeting, blessings of freedom," the general said.

Although violence in those nations arises partly from ethnic and sectarian disputes, Campbell said, Americans are waging primarily a battle of ideas.

"The fight we have joined today is simply the extension of an ancient fight between those who put their faith in tyrants and those who put their faith in people," the general said.

Fundamentalists, he said, use a "selective interpretation" of Islam to justify their attempts to destroy Western culture and values, including democracy. Such radicals, Campbell said, intend to expel the United States from the Arabian Peninsula and attack Israel.

"They are counting on America to tire, to lose resolve and to give in to political pressure to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan prematurely," Campbell said. "They think we are morally weak and will lose heart, but in my view their view of America is superficial and shallow."

The general noted an "internal struggle in Islam" between fundamentalists and moderates, who are more willing to accommodate secular, representative government.

Americans particularly need to support stable democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan to counter Iran, Campbell said, and urged work toward an Arab-Israeli peace.

"We have an interest in Israel, and we will have an enduring interest in Israel," he said. "Our nation has prospered, as the Bible says, because of our support for Israel."

Campbell, who is responsible for the oversight, training and equipping of 750,000 active duty, reserve and National Guard soldiers when mobilized for combat operations, praised American troops and their families for their sacrifices.

"Americans are fighting in faraway lands tonight to promote freedom in other lands so that other men and women can have free choice," Campbell said.

American soldiers, Campbell said, are at the same time both the best trained and most compassionate troops in history.

"No other nation but America could have produced such an army," Campbell said.

The general also thanked his audience for supporting American troops and their families in what he believes will be an ongoing fight against terrorism.

"It will be a tough fight, for sure, but it can be won," Campbell said. "The struggle will not end [in Iraq and Afghanistan]. We will struggle versus Islamic extremism for years to come. This will be a generational fight."