A surge of phony spin on Iraq ...... Juan Cole

[RedEarth]

Aug. 07, 2007 | As Congress prepared to go on its August recess, Pentagon officials and White House backers were desperately spinning as a success this year's escalation of U.S. troop levels in Iraq. A recent poll shows that there has been a 10 percent uptick in the proportion of Americans who think the so-called surge, first announced by President George W. Bush in January, is having a beneficial effect. But how accurate are the sunny pronouncements coming out of Washington? What would constitute a success for the surge, and how likely is it to be achieved?

The troop escalation was intended to calm down Baghdad and to give the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki breathing room to pursue a political reconciliation, especially with the Sunni Arab population. But the political goals of the surge are simply not being accomplished -- and indeed, the political situation has deteriorated substantially.

Maliki has lost even the few Sunni Arab allies he began with; the Sunni Arab coalition, called the Iraqi Accord Front, that had actually been in his government has now had its cabinet ministers tender their resignations. He has not held further reconciliation talks with dissident Sunni Arab groups. The Sunni Arab guerrilla groups are thinking of forming an opposition political party in hopes of extending their efforts to topple his government into the political sphere. His relations with Sunni Arab neighbors are so bad that Saudi Arabia declined his request to visit Riyadh.

Developments on other fronts are equally grim. The Maliki government has lost the confidence of three other political parties, the Islamic Virtue Party (15 seats in parliament), the Sadr Movement of Muqtada al-Sadr (30 seats), and just on Monday, the Iraqi National List led by former appointed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. All have pulled their ministers from his government. The government of the major province of Basra, source of Iraq's petroleum exports and its major port, has collapsed. The governor, from the Islamic Virtue Party, failed a vote of no confidence by the provincial council, spearheaded by a rival Shiite faction, but he refuses to resign even though Maliki backed his removal. And if Basra collapses socially and with regard to security, it is unlikely that the Baghdad government can survive.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/08/07/surge/print.html

[Tempest]

1. Here's a list of the "progress"

All taken from today's headlines.


Shiites are ethnically cleansing Baghdad neighborhoods.

Iraq's electricity network is near collapse.

Areas of Iraq have removed their local electric producing plants from the grid and are depriving outside areas of power.

U.S. soldier's deaths in August are on pace to set a monthly record for the year.

Two Sunni groups have left the government and there isn't enough members left to raise a quorum. No legislation can be passed.

[MasonJar]

2. Well, Rovwe is the master of shill. He is going to be hard pressed to convince

anybody this time since 20+ plus troops have already died this month and it is the 7th. I just read tonight on DU that the estimate for Iraqis killed is now more than 995,000. Evil and the anti-Christ in the White House.