DOD reports jump in Iraq sect violence, Bush lies to the public about it

[bigtree]

09.02.2006, 10:12 AM

Bush: Iraq Has Not Fallen Into Civil War

Associated Press
By JENNIFER LOVEN

A day after a Pentagon report described spreading sectarian violence and increasingly complex security problems in Iraq, President Bush painted a rosier picture. "Our commanders and diplomats on the ground believe that Iraq has not descended into a civil war," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address. "They report that only a small number of Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, while the overwhelming majority want peace and a normal life in a unified country."

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/entresales/feeds/ap/2006/09/02/ap2989749.html


from the NYT analysis of the report Bush is citing in his radio address: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/02/world/middleeast/02military.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=world&pagewanted=print

"During the period from the establishment of the new Iraqi government on May 20 until Aug. 11, the average number of weekly attacks jumped to almost 800. That was a substantial increase from earlier this year and almost double the number of the first part of 2004."

“Although the overall number of attacks increased in all categories, the proportion of those attacks directed against civilians increased substantially,” the Pentagon noted. “Death squads and terrorists are locked in mutually reinforcing cycles of sectarian strife, with Sunni and Shia extremists each portraying themselves as the defenders of their respective sectarian groups.”

The report chronicles dangers on an array of fronts. Although the Sunni-based insurgency has received less news media attention since the surge of sectarian violence, the report cautions that it is resilient and strong. The number of attacks in Anbar Province, a vast Sunni-dominated region in western Iraq, averages more than 30 a day.

The report notes that sectarian violence is gradually expanding north to Kirkuk and Diyala Province. Further, the confidence of Iraqis in the future has diminished, according to public opinion surveys cited in the Pentagon report.

Text of the Report (pdf)
http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/international/20060901_military_report.pdf


Why isn't our party prepared to immediately impeach Bush for his repeated lies? This can't continue.


excerpts from speech: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060902.html

Bush: We're approaching the fifth anniversary of the September the 11th attacks -- and since that day, we have taken the fight to the enemy. Yet this war is more than a military conflict; it is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation -- the right of all people to speak, worship, and live in liberty. On the other side are those driven by tyranny and extremism -- the right of a self-appointed few to impose their fanatical views on all the rest. We did not ask for this war, but we're answering history's call with confidence -- and we will prevail.

We are using every element of national power to defeat the terrorists. First, we're staying on the offense against the terrorists, fighting them overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. Second, we made it clear to all nations, if you harbor terrorists, you're as guilty as the terrorists, you're an enemy of the United States, and you will be held to account. And third, we have launched a bold new agenda to defeat the ideology of the enemy by supporting the forces of freedom and moderation in the Middle East and beyond.

A vital part of our strategy to defeat the terrorists is to help establish a democratic Iraq, which will be a beacon of liberty in the region and an ally in the global war on terror. The terrorists understand the threat a democratic Iraq poses to their cause, so they've been fighting a bloody campaign of sectarian violence, which they hope will plunge that country into a civil war. Our commanders and diplomats on the ground believe that Iraq has not descended into a civil war. They report that only a small number of Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, while the overwhelming majority want peace and a normal life in a unified country. America will stand with the Iraqi people as they protect their new freedom -- and build a democracy that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself.

Working side-by-side with Iraqi forces, we recently launched a major new campaign to end the security crisis in Baghdad. This operation is still in its early stages, yet the initial results are encouraging. The people of Baghdad are seeing their security forces in the streets, dealing a blow to criminals and terrorists. According to one military report, a Sunni man in a diverse Baghdad neighborhood said this about the Shia soldiers on patrol: "Their image has changed. Now you feel they are there to protect you." Over the coming weeks and months, the operation will expand throughout Baghdad -- until Iraq's democratic government is in full control of the capital. This work is difficult and dangerous, but Iraqi forces are determined to succeed -- and America is determined to help them.

Here at home, some politicians say that our best option is to pull out of Iraq, regardless of the situation on the ground. Many of these people are sincere and patriotic -- but they could not be more wrong. If America were to pull out before Iraq can defend itself, the consequences would be disastrous. We would be handing Iraq over to the terrorists, giving them a base of operations and huge oil riches to fund their ambitions. And we know exactly where those ambitions lead. If we give up the fight in the streets of Baghdad, we will face the terrorists in the streets of our own cities. The security of the civilized world depends on victory in the war on terror, and that depends on victory in Iraq, so America will not leave until victory is achieved.

For all the debate, American policy in the Middle East comes down to a straightforward choice: We can allow the Middle East to continue on the course that led to September the 11th -- and a generation from now, our children will face a region dominated by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons. Or we can stop that from happening, by rallying the world to confront the ideology of hate, by supporting the forces of liberty and moderation in the region, and by helping give the people of the Middle East a future of hope. And that is the choice America has made.

[Benhurst]

1. He's too lazy to read; but, bottom line, he's a liar. NT

[leftchick]

2. has he ever told the truth about anything?

except for him being a dictator I don't think so.

[bigtree]

3. this has got to be one of the biggest ones

he's trying to cover up what is clearly a civil war in Iraq, with our forces on one side of a multi-front conflict which is escalating around them. Bush downplays all of this to maintain his party's political campaign with our soldiers at the point of his politics. It's practically treasonous, at the least, criminally negligent for him to ignore his own Pentagon's report and continue to tell the American people that everything is going swimmingly in Iraq.

[fooj]

4. Practically? It IS treason, IMO.

[bigtree]

5. Do you know the law on misrepresentation of threats to our forces?

or something similar? Maybe in the presidential oath or charter. I haven't looked.

[bigtree]

6. how do we hold Bush accountable in the courts, since Congress won't?

Here's a good synopsis of an effort surrounding the Japanese internment by Eric K. Yamamoto
* Professor of Law, William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii . . .

National Security Lies and the Case For Heightened Judicial Scrutiny

https://www.law.duke.edu/journals/lcp/articles/LCP68DSpring2005P285.HTM#H2N18

[bigtree]

7. report says violence has spread. They had been saying it was restricted to

Baghdad . . .

from WaMonthly, Political Animal: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_09/009436.php

September 2, 2006

IRAQ: STILL WORSE THAN YOU THINK IT IS....The Pentagon's quarterly assessment of conditions in Iraq was released on Friday:

Attacks and civilian deaths in Iraq have risen sharply in recent months, with casualties increasing by 1,000 a month, and sectarian violence has engulfed larger areas of the country, the Pentagon said Friday in a strikingly dismal report to Congress.

...."This is a pretty sober report," said Peter Rodman, the assistant secretary of Defense for international security. "The last quarter has been rough. The level of violence is up. And the sectarian quality of the violence is particularly acute and disturbing."

....Administration officials, for example, repeatedly have emphasized that recent violence has been concentrated in Baghdad. The new report notes that violence has increased in Diyala, Mosul and Kirkuk as the sectarian conflict has spread to those cities.

In other words, they've been lying. Even when the Bushies switch into their pre-election war-of-civilizations mode, the happy talk continues. Three years of Republican occupation in Iraq has had about the same effect on their country as six years of Republican rule has had on ours.

[bigtree]

8. kick