Testimony, recent reports not always on same page

[zippy890]

Source: Boston Globe

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | September 11, 2007

WASHINGTON - Before yesterday's testimony by General David H. Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, and Ryan C. Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, critics of the war charged that the two officials would exaggerate success in Iraq in a bid to persuade Congress to continue to support a high level of US troops.

Petraeus and Crocker appeared to go out of their way yesterday to provide caveats to the progress they were reporting, and to send a message that even while they saw signs of hope in Iraq, the road ahead would be long and difficult.

Here are highlights of the key differences in assessments:

Security Petraeus argued that the "surge" has largely met its goal of improving security for the population. "The overall number of security incidents in Iraq has declined in eight of the past 12 weeks, with incidents in the last two weeks at the lowest levels since June 2006." The National Intelligence Estimate noted "modest gains" in security, particularly in recent weeks. But the GAO report said the overall number of enemy-initiated attacks on Iraqi civilians has remained relatively constant since 2006. "The average number of daily attacks against civilians remained about the same over the last six months," the report states. The GAO reports that the decline in security incidents was due to a decrease in attacks on coalition forces, not civilians. The Iraqi government has released figures showing an increase in the number of civilian deaths in August over July. Sectarian fighting Petraeus said the surge has turned back the tide of ethnic and sectarian violence between Shi'ite and Sunnis in Baghdad, another key goal of the surge. "In Baghdad . . . the number of ethno-sectarian deaths has come down by some 80 percent since December." The Iraqi government has also cited an improvement in security in Baghdad and a decline in sectarian killings that reached their peak in December 2006. But the rate of sectarian violence declined even before most of the surge troops were in place in Baghdad, according to the Pentagon's own data. Additionally, the Pentagon's system of counting sectarian deaths has come under scrutiny by analysts, the GAO, and members of Congress, who say the Pentagon's method of counting sectarian deaths may be too subjective to be meaningful. Anbar Province Petraeus highlighted the most significant positive news that has come out of Iraq for the administration in the past eight months - the new alliance with Sunni tribes in Anbar who have turned against Al Qaeda. The National Intelligence Estimate notes that significant progress on security in Anbar has been made. But it also warns that - without political reconciliation between Sunni and Shi'ite - the new US allies could one day turn their training and weapons against the Iraqi government. Iraqi forces Petraeus said that Iraqi security forces have continued to grow and mature. "There are now nearly 140 Iraqi Army National Police and Special Operations Battalions in the fight, with about 95 of those capable of taking the lead in operations." The Jones report said the National Police force in Iraq is "not viable in its current form." The report says the National Police are distrusted across the country because some members double as sectarian gangs, and recommends that the force be reformed. Governance Crocker highlighted as a sign of progress an Aug. 26 communique by Iraq's five most prominent national leaders from the Sunni, Shi'ite, and Kurdish communities announcing "agreement on draft legislation dealing with de-Ba'athification and provincial powers." But that falls far short of progress that Iraq's leaders had pledged to make. The GAO report states that Iraq's government has only met one of eight legislative benchmarks and that there were few signs it would make meaningful headway on them soon. Rebuilding Crocker also stated as a sign of progress that Iraq's government had begun to spend its own money on reconstruction projects and capital investments, noting that "the 2007 governmental budget allocated $10 billion . . . to capital investment." But the GAO found that the funds had been allocated but were "unlikely to be fully spent."


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Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/09/11/testimony_recent_reports_not_always_on_same_page/

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Many more 'Caveats' we will hear today, and much more in the way of blurred reality

[Doctor_J]

1. In English, the means, "Everyone associated with Bush lies every day, about every subject"

Why can't they just say that?