Rosy assessments on Iraq `not related to reality,' some say

[sabra]

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/world/15272800.htm

Rosy assessments on Iraq `not related to reality,' some say

<snip>

"The American policy has failed both in terms of politics and security, but the big problem is that they will not confess or admit that," said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of parliament. "They are telling the American public that the situation in Iraq will be improved, they want to encourage positive public opinion (in the U.S.), but the Iraqi citizens are seeing something different. They know the real situation."

Othman charges that top American officials spend most of their time in the heavily guarded Green Zone in Baghdad and at large military bases across the country, and don't know what's happening in the neighborhoods and provinces beyond.

Shiite Muslim parliament member Jalaladin al Saghir had a similar view.

"All the American policies have failed because the American analysis of the situation is wrong; it is not related to reality," Saghir said. "The slaughtered Iraqi man on the street conveys the best explanation" for what's happening in Iraq.


Some U.S. soldiers in Iraq reluctantly agree.


"As an intelligence officer ... I have had the chance to move around Baghdad on mounted and dismounted patrols and see the city and violence from the ground," wrote one American military officer in Iraq. "I think that the greatest problem that we deal (besides the insurgents and militia) with is that our leadership has no real comprehension of the ground truth. I wish that I could offer a solution, but I can't. When I have briefed General Officers, I have given them my perspective and assessment of the situation. Many have been surprised at what I have to say, but I suspect that in the end nothing will or has changed."

[ixion]

1. 'some say' ah yes... more lovely journalism

:eyes:

[Earth_First]

9. My thoughts exactly...

in fact, I half thought to myself that the link within was going to be associated with FoxNews.

[wellst0nev0ter]

12. "Shape Of The Earth: Views Differ"

:eyes:

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. Well son, it's not about what's good for you

it's about what's good for us in establishing our dominance in the region and controlling the oil supply. So, suck it up and get use to it. Oh, and by the way, it's not healthy to be running your mouth to freelance reporters contradiction the U.S. official position.

Your's for Democracy,

Dick Cheney.

[Xipe Totec]

3. They just keep polishing the turd

hoping, somehow, to make it shine.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. You know your're done

when they are printing articles like this in Macon, GA.

[badgervan]

5. Standard Operating Procedure.....

...in the military, especially amongst the top ranks, is CYA ( cover your ass ). The buck should stop at the top - and we all know who that is. You rarely see initiative taken in the military, as it is designed, top down, to blindly follow orders from the rank just above you. When the blame game is played, as it always is in the military, there can logically be no other responsible party, when all is said and done, than the Decider and his top enabler, mr. cheney.

[stepnw1f]

6. Iraq is LOST

say buh bye to all that oil Bush.... all those investors aint gonna be happy.

[GeorgeGist]

7. Who needs reality...

" I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. ...The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

[erik-the-red]

8. I don't want to see it fail

I disagree with all excuses that have been created by the current administration to justify entering Iraq. Having that said, I do not want to see Iraq fail. It would sadden me if the situation reverted to status quo antebellum.

[PerceptionManagement]

10. It saddens me that Americans are dying for a domestic charade.

Iraq has already failed and it can't be fixed, least by the Cultured Corruptors that currently lead the US. But that doesn't matter to aWol. This war was always for domestic political consumption. It's about fear and keeping power in republican hands. Using that reasoning, quagmire is just the ticket!! Yea! Terror! (Now, Lets have a fundraiser and bash the defeat-o'crats....)

The thing is, the incompetent repugs can't even steal Iraqi oil correctly!

[LynnTheDem]

11. Iraqis were better off under Saddam Hussein.

Every day under us they're worse off than ever before.

We HAVE failed.

Period.

Now we're just killing & being killed until the "leadership" in America admits it.