The Surge is Winning Converts In Iraq

From the Associated Press, we find out exactly who is benefiting from our efforts in Iraq. Let's see - American soldiers dying and billions of American dollars being spent so that these fine Iraqi youth, described in the clip below, can rule their own country. We're doing a heckuva job, Bushie...

Religious vigilantes have killed at least 40 women this year in the southern Iraqi city of Basra because of how they dressed, their mutilated bodies found with notes warning against "violating Islamic teachings," the police chief said Sunday.

Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf blamed sectarian groups that he said were trying to impose a strict interpretation of Islam. They dispatch patrols of motorbikes or unlicensed cars with tinted windows to accost women not wearing traditional dress and head scarves, he added.

"The women of Basra are being horrifically murdered and then dumped in the garbage with notes saying they were killed for un-Islamic behavior," Khalaf told The Associated Press. He said men with Western clothes or haircuts are also attacked in Basra, an oil-rich city some 30 miles from the Iranian border and 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.

Surge is Just a Stopgap

Two posts ago I was speaking about the success of the surge and the cost in lives it has created. Here's some more on the surge from Progress Report, 11/2/2007...

'SURGE' FAILS AT PRIMARY AIMS: Bush's escalation strategy has been unable to attain its primary goal of reducing violence to "help make reconciliation possible ." While the administration has been trumpeting a trend of decreasing violence, Iraqi government figures obtained yesterday reveal that the "number of Iraqis killed in insurgent and sectarian attacks rose in October, " illustrating how the administration is pushing claims that it is gaining "momentum " in Iraq while ignoring the pervasive volatility there.

Although levels of violence are down from "pre-surge" levels, "there might be fewer attacks because you have ethnically cleansed neighborhoods ," according to the Government Accountability Office. A recent report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq reconstruction stated, "Despite reduced violence [since pre-surge levels], officials are pessimistic that lasting reconciliation is occurring " in Baghdad and surrounding provinces. Earlier this month, "several top Iraqi leaders say they have lost faith " in the prospect of reconciliation."

Is Iraq Getting Better?

There's not much in the news any more about the Iraq war. When was the last time you heard a newscaster talk about casualties in Iraq? The question must be asked - is the surge working?

It looks like the focus of the war is shifting. I posted not long ago about the shift from ground attacks to the increased use of bombing. This saves American lives, but causes significantly more civilian casualties. Of course, if you're George W. Bush, I suppose the loss of civilian Iraqis is far more preferable than the loss of American soldiers. BUT - that's still not the whole truth. The following is from Daily Kos - click the link to read more.

So far this year, 839 coalition soldiers have died in Iraq. Ten fewer than were killed in all of 2004, the year with the worst fatality tally so
far.

Since March 20, 2003, when the invasion of Iraq was launched, there have been 4145 coalition fatalities.

Much Ado About Nothing: Bush Report on the Surge

Surging Ahead to New Tactics of Terrorism

Yeah - the surge is working - sort of - maybe - some days - whatever!

Sept. 25 — Sunni Arab extremists have begun a systematic campaign to assassinate police chiefs, police officers, other Interior Ministry officials and tribal leaders throughout Iraq, staging at least 10 attacks in 48 hours.

Read more at the New York Times

The Way Forward

A serious discussion of the surge in Iraq.

The Surge is Working!

Yep - Iraqis are surging out of their country, looking for asylum...

According to the Iraqi Red Crescent, there has been a massive increase in the amount of Iraqis forced to abandon their homes in August. The majority of Iraqis are leaving in order to escape the violence and many are trying to find a new life all the way in Brazil. Palestinian Ghazi Shaheen, who lived with his family in Iraq, left the country "because there was no safety. You never knew who was going to knock on your door and try to kill one of your family."

From Air America

Did You Know - The Surge Is Failing

Sigh. Something so many of us have known for so long. I guess the confirmation is at least a little comforting.

A bipartisan majority of foreign policy experts surveyed say the U.S. troop surge in Iraq is failing, Foreign Policy magazine said Monday.

The magazine said two-thirds of the more than 100 foreign policy experts called for a troop withdrawal in 18 months. Twenty-five identified themselves as conservative, 39 as moderate and 44 as liberal. The surge was the additional deployment of about 20,000 U.S. soldiers, mainly concentrated in the Baghdad area, to launch offensives against insurgents.Of the experts surveyed, 53 percent said the surge is having a negative impact, up 22 percentage points in the past six months. Ninety-two percent believe the war is having “a negative impact on U.S. national security."

From UPI

Did You Know - Not My Kids

The children of politicians should not be held to the political commitments of their parents nor should the parents be held responsible for the choices of their grown children. Still, there is a bit of a each reflecting on the other here.

I certainly do not hold Al Gore responsible for his grown son's irresponsible actions involving speeding and drugs, but it does reflect a bit on Al - what is with their home life that led his son to this sort of behavior?

And I do not hold Mitt Romney responsible for his 5 children not joining the military to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, even though Mitt strongly supports the surge. But it does beg the question of Mitt - why is it okay to send other people's children over there to die, but not your own?

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended his five sons' decision not to enlist in the military, saying they're showing their support for the country by "helping me get elected."

Romney, who did not serve in Vietnam due to his Mormon missionary work and a high draft lottery number, was asked the question by an anti-war activist after a speech in which he called for "a surge of support" for U.S. forces in Iraq.

From Yahoo News

Did You Know - Still Not a Failure

When will the Republicans admit what they must already know? How long can they pretend that reality is not reality?

The odds of building a stable Iraqi government by September are slim, even with the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops to give lawmakers in Baghdad security, said the top U.S. general in the Middle East country.

The ``aggregate level'' of violence has not diminished since the troop increase began five months ago, General David Petraeus said in an interview on ``Fox News Sunday.'' Asked whether he thought the strategy could succeed by early September when he's due to report to Congress, Petraeus was negative.

"I do not, no. I think we have a lot of heavy lifting to do,'' he said. "This is a tough effort.''

Lawmakers in Congress, including the top Republican in the U.S. Senate, said they won't tolerate the lack of progress. "The Iraqi government has been a pretty big disappointment,'' Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican and minority leader, said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' show. "We've given them an enormous opportunity here, over the last four years, to have a normal country. And our commitment will not be there forever.''

Iraqi politicians have failed to deliver on promises to craft laws that would share Iraq's oil revenue, hold local elections, disarm sectarian militias and settle political differences that are paralyzing government.

From Bloomberg.com

Did You Know - Our Unaware President

It's so pathetic - our President has no clue what is going on around him. It just breaks my heart.

Early this week, the Pentagon delivered to Congress its “first comprehensive statistical overview of the new U.S. military strategy in Iraq.” Citing “uneven cooperation” and little “concrete progress,” the report concluded that “reconciliation between Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni factions” remains “a serious unfulfilled objective.” Further, the report found that suicide bombings across Iraq have doubled since January, overall violence “has increased in most provinces,” and “civilian casualties rose slightly, to more than 100 a day.”

Today, however, the President attempted to dismiss the report’s conclusions, saying that it is still “too early to judge the results of this new strategy” by repeating the myth that U.S. forces “haven’t even started the full surge yet“

From Think Progress.

Did You Know - Iraqi's Fall Short

There was a surge, then a whoosh as the air came out of the gas bags...

A senior U.S. military commander said yesterday that Iraq's army must expand its rolls by at least 20,000 more soldiers than Washington had anticipated, to help free U.S. troops from conducting daily patrols, checkpoints and other critical yet dangerous missions. Even then, Iraq will remain incapable of taking full responsibility for its security for many years -- five years in the case of protecting its airspace -- and will require a long-term military relationship with the United States, said Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who until recently led the U.S. military's training effort in Iraq.

From the Washington Post

News - Arms Shortage

More stuff the mainstream media hasn't been focused on in their reporting. Again, from the Center for American Progress...

MILITARY -- PACE ADMITS MILITARY LACKS EQUIPMENT TO SUPPORT BUSH'S ESCALATION: In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace admitted that finding enough equipment to support President Bush's escalation plan to send an addition 21,500 combat troops to Iraq would be a "problem." He said further that the "41,000 armored vehicles in Iraq" would be "fewer than will be needed to cover all the the troops that are deploying." One senior Army official suggested to the Washington Post last week that five brigades of Humveess would have to "fall out of the sky" to meet the shortfalls. Last year, the chief of the Pentagon's National Guard Bureau expressed similar sentiments, telling Congress that "at least two-thirds of his units in the United States are not combat-ready." Such shortages are not new. Indeed, the Post reported last week that Guard units have "on average, 40 percent of their required equipment," and according to Army data, "the Guard as a whole is not expected to return to minimum equipment levels until 2013." Reports of cascading supply failures are not likely to end soon. Last week the Pentagon's Inspector General told Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) that two ongoing audits of the procurement of armored vehicles and body armor for American soldiers would be forthcoming in July and October 2007.

Political Cartoons

Political Jokes

The surge in troops sent ot Iraq could be very costly. From The Progress Report...

"IRAQ -- BUSH ESCALATES WAR BY EXTENDING DEPLOYMENTS, REMOVING TROOPS FROM AFGHANISTAN: New reports show how President Bush plans to escalate the war in Iraq despite the U.S. military being overstretched around the globe. The Associated Press reports that the Pentagon "has abandoned its limit on the time a citizen-soldier can be required to serve on active duty, ...a major change that reflects an Army stretched thin by longer-than-expected combat in Iraq." Until now, the Guard and Reserve policy "was that members' cumulative time on active duty for the Iraq or Afghan wars could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months." Additionally, the Boston Globe reports that a U.S. Army battalion "fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks to deploy to Iraq." The move comes despite "an urgent appeal" from U.S. commanders in Afghanistan for more forces. "Army Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata and other US commanders say [the diversion of forces from Afghanistan to Iraq] will happen as the Taliban is expected to unleash a campaign to cut the vital road between Kabul and Kandahar."

Extinction Distinction - President Bush may go on denying the science of global warming even after the "warm-weather" animal breeds move onto the White House Lawn.

Could it be that, in George Bush's world, the cost of freedom is freedom?

Andy Borowitz did a funny piece a couple of days ago about the "surge" in troops proposed by President Bush. Andy was wondering if there would be a corresponding "insurge" of "insurgents" in Iraq and Afghanistan. How about it? Will our surge bring out even more of the radical Islamists? Or will our surge just push the insurgents out of Baghdad and into other provinces of Iraq where the troops aren't surging?

CNN reported this morning that only about 27% of Americans support the new GWB plan for a surge of troops in Iraq. Do you suppose Bush will have to invade the U.S. next in order to win our loyalty?

Bush Pushes Forward

It is so sad that we've allowed GWB to kidnap the military of the U.S. Government.

From the Progress Report of the Center for American Progress - 12/3/2006.

CNN reports that President Bush is "expected to announce his new Iraq strategy in an address to the nation early next week ." According to the BBC, "The speech will reveal a plan to send more US troops to Iraq ." The Pentagon is already drafting plans "extending U.S. military units already in Iraq and moving troops from other locations" in anticipation of the announcement. One thing that hasn't been decided: what the extra troops would do in the middle of a civil war . The BBC reports "The exact mission of the extra troops in Iraq is still under discussion ." Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) says Bush's plan for escalation in Iraq is "Alice in Wonderland ," adding, "I'm absolutely opposed to sending any more troops to Iraq. It is folly."

The Bush Stands Alone

The President has gone completely mad. Will congress finally impeach this idiot? We may only be months away...

The debate over sending more U.S. troops to Iraq intensified yesterday as President Bush signaled that he will listen but not necessarily defer to balky military officers, while Gen. John P. Abizaid, his top Middle East commander and a leading skeptic of a so-called surge, announced his retirement.

Read more at the Washington Post

In the News - Surge in Troops

From the Center for American Progress - the Progress Report (12/20/2006)

History Repeats Itself

In 1991, then-Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Colin Powell, a Vietnam veteran, outlined what became known as the "Powell Doctrine": "military action should be used only as a last resort and only if there is a clear risk to national security by the intended target; the force, when used, should be overwhelming and disproportionate to the force used by the enemy; there must be strong support for the campaign by the general public; and there must be a clear exit strategy from the conflict in which the military is engaged." (President Bush reiterated these points in 2000: "Whenever America uses forces in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear and the victory must be overwhelming.") Years later, the military is bogged down in Iraq in what Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) has called "an absolute replay of Vietnam." Public opinion has shifted against the war, and rather than outline an exit strategy, the White House is pushing a plan to "surge" in 15,000 to 30,000 more troops to Iraq -- over the objections of the Joint Chiefs and the vast majority of Americans. Rather than learn the lessons of Vietnam laid out by the Powell Doctrine, Bush is taking his advice from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who believes the "overriding lesson of Vietnam is to stick it out." At a time when attacks against American and Iraqi targets are at their highest levels, the nation can
ill-afford to follow Kissinger's advice.