Putting The Lie To Petraeus And Crocker

Most Americans have probably already satisfied themselves that the Petraeus/Crocker duet was singing off key. But I have just read my hometown newspaper's coverage and it simply does not address all the distortions and outright lies that this testimony contains; and I then watched a fifteen minute treatment of CNN's Lou Dobb's Tonight that featured one of those "think tank intellectuals," who actually claimed that the Sunni and Shia leadership were enthusiastically embracing each other because of the success of the surge.

So, based on this evidence, I think that many of you share my need to read something that douses the stench of the last two days with some refreshing (but depressing) evidence about what is really going on in Iraq. To that end, I recommend this very nice and succinct rebuttal of the dynamic duo by the McClatchy news service reporters Nancy Youssef and Leila Fadel. (By the way, McClatchy is the most reliable American mainstream source on Iraq these days--better than the Washington Post and far, far better than the New York Times.) The senior reporter, Nancy Youssef, has been one of a handful of truly superb reporters in Iraq, and this article is no exception.

Some key points from McClatchy:

* There has been no real drop in civilian casualties among the Iraqis. The evidence presented is statistical sleight of hand.

* A "fall in violence" has taken place in some neighborhoods, but it is not the result of American troops suppressing sectarian violence. Quite the contrary, it is the result of the fact that violent ethnic cleansing has been completed. That is, previously mixed neighborhoods have been purified [usually with the aid of American troops, who drive away the armed militias (always labeled as "terrorists") that defend embattled Sunni residents].

* As a result of this sustained ethnic cleansing, which is continuing apace in the still mixed neighborhoods, the number of refugees inside and outside Iraq continues to mount dramatically, creating the kind of terminal misery that only losing your home and livelihood in a disaster area can produce.

The bottom line is simple: the surge, like its strategic predecessors, has contributed to the war by bringing the full brunt of American military violence to many new neighborhoods, by facilitating the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Baghdad; and by creating masses of newly displaced people, many of whom then join in the violence.

Comments

[ThoughtfulDavid]

I don't entirely disagree, puhibay; I think that's the way it will work out in the end.

But I think what Bush is actually doing is stalling, waiting for a miracle to occur. In his little deluded mind, he still thinks that if he can keep US soldiers there long enough, suddenly "then a miracle occurs" (h/t to Gary Larsen) and Iraq will become a beautiful, shining example of his and the neocon's brilliant decisions.

That's the only thing that can save Bush and his legacy, so it's what he's clinging to. Doesn't care how many other people's kids die or how much other people's grandkids' money is spent on it. He has to hope for a miracle.

And if we pull out of Iraq now, there won't be any time for that miracle to occur.

So we're staying.

[hopeless277]

The truth is irrelevant. Republicans have effectivly made this so. It does not matter what is ACTUALLY happening in Iraq. What matters is the effects of what is happening. If Iraqi deaths were running at 10,000 a day, Republicans would tell us that these are terrorists and that we are safer because of their deaths. Face facts, the U.S. will NEVER LEAVE IRAQ. At least not until we are DRIVEN out by the Iraqis. And when that happens, EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN IN THE NATION will blame the Democrats for 'losing Iraq'. When, if face, Iraq was lost the day GWB was born. There will be no change, no withdrawl, no victory, no loss, only death on a massive scale. My advise? Buy Halliburton stock as well as stock in whoever makes the bulletts and bombs we use so freely to kill our fellow human beings.

[puhibay]

Bush is going to say anything to make it till the end of his term.
All he wants to do is pass on his mess, that is all he has done his whole life. He makes a mess and someone else cleans it up.
Then he blames the person who cleaned up the mess. Just watch.
Or, fight the guy and end the war.