I just read a wonderful post at Mudville Gazette that gives a blow-by-blow breakdown on what the planned surge in US troops "is" and "isn't."
One interesting fact is that no troops are heading to Iraq that were not already scheduled to go there. It's just that some are going a little ahead of time to increase the numbers rather than simply replace them.
A second interesting fact is that 70% of the civilian deaths in Iraq in recent months have been Shi'ites . . . giving the lie that al-Sadr's Mahdi Militia is the source of most of the mayhem. Sunni Baathists and al-Qaeda folks seem to be the main murders of late. This makes Iran's "bi-partisan" support of Sunni as well as Shia "insurgents" particularly noteworthy.
The only place in Iraq that will experience any sort of significant "surge" is, of course, Baghdad. This increase in American troops in the city was made possible by changes in the political situation in the Iraqi government... especially as regards President al-Maliki.
Not only are the additional American troops being allowed into Baghdad but they are being allied with Iraqi security forces that are now fully trained and, in some cases, battle-tested to do most of the dirty work themselves. As President Bush said in his State of the Union Address, the "rules of engagement" have also been changed. Until now, there has been no targeted crackdown on militia members or their leadership permitted by the Iraqi Government.
Now, however, it appears that it is the strong desire of both Shia and Sunni leaders to end this inter-sectarian violence once and for all. Each side is particularly concerned about whether they can trust Iraq security forces and police to actually protect them from terrorist attacks and murder squads.
With the US forces working alongside the Iraqi forces, the level of confidence in this matter seems to have grown considerably.
For an update on the security cooperation being hammered out between Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders (a very positive development) read the news here.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - ProfEssays
"With the US forces working alongside the Iraqi forces, the level of confidence in this matter seems to have grown considerably." I believe it is an extremely preposterous statement.
2 - SHARK
dressed up as Right-Wing Commercial for More American Deaths:
"...additional American troops being allowed[?] into Baghdad but they are being allied with Iraqi security forces that are now fully trained and... battle-tested to do most of the dirty work themselves."
Laughable.
"...Until now, there has been no targeted crackdown on militia members or their leadership permitted by the Iraqi Government."
That's because they're one and the same.
"...the strong desire of both Shia and Sunni leaders to end this inter-sectarian violence once and for all."
YOU MUST BE JOKING. THEY'RE JUST GETTIN' STARTED.
Did you see the news yesterday, 1/30/07?!
There was a huge firefight-- and a plan to massacre Shiites and assasinate Al-Sistani in a plan to provoke a nation-wide bloodbath.
"...With the US forces working alongside the Iraqi forces, the level of confidence in this matter seems to have grown considerably."
PLEASE CHANGE TO REFLECT REALITY thus:
"...With the US forces working alongside the Iraqi forces, the potential for deadly 'set-ups', kidnappings, ambushes, etc. -- seems to have grown considerably."
========
BoP,
Please stop MARKETING this fiasco in Iraq. We lost. The only honorable thing to do is to withdraw and save the lives of American soldiers.
For you to continue writing Pollyanna shit like this -- especially in the face of overwhelming contradictory evidence -- puts you in league with the *devil.
*dick cheney
As I told Nalle elsewhere: for you to continue MAKING UP ROSY-CRAP COMMERCIALS meant to convince the public to continue to 'allow' American G.I. deaths in Iraq is a fucking intellectual CRIME.
YOU.
ARE.
A.
HEINOUS.
HUMAN.
3 - Bliffle
They just increased the percent of time each soldier spends 'in country'.
Since Gen. Petraeus trained the Iraqi soldiers we will be able to forecast his surge success by their performance the next few weeks.
4 - Nancy
This latest ploy of continued extension of troops' rotations is nothing but a version of the good ol' Press Gang: forced conscription, as good as a draft in all but name - the usual lying crap that BushCo plays.
As for you, BoP, you seem to have bought into Smilin' Dick's blowing sunshine up your grass skirts. Cheney is delusional, if not outright insane, as in psychotic; have you WATCHED his expression, his face, lately when he's interviewed? In no way does he live in reality any more; the pity is he has the power to destroy far more than his own life, & controls Bush, who is too stupid, arrogant, and stubborn to listen to reason or face reality, as long as he thinks there's a chance for him to leave a legacy as a 'victorious' War Prez. For which he's willing to send any number of Americans to slaughter or mutilation, for his ego. God damn them both to eternal hell.
5 - Dave Nalle
You guys are so right. Damn this Bird guy to HELL for hoping that we could solve some problems in Iraq and do some good before we leave. What an evil, reactionary bastard! Doesn't he know the terrorists are the good guys here, just like those sweet, innocent Viet Cong 40 years ago. He must be silenced! Let only the voices of failure, defeat and destruction be heard.
Dave
6 - Dave Nalle
Oh, I don't want to upset Shark and ruin his whole day, but the latest reports from Iraq are that terrorists of all stripes are fleeing Baghdad and fleesing the country by the thousands in anticipation of the 'surge'. They're crossing into Syria and into Iran and hiding out in support camps provided for them by the governments of those countries. This includes both Al Quaeda terrorists and many of the 30,000+ Iranians operating inside Iraq.
Now if the military could just close those borders with the terrorists and invaders on the other side we might actually see some progress.
dave
7 - Nancy
No, I don't speak that of BoP, and you know it, so stop twisting my words. The malediction is for those evil leaders who cynically abuse their power & consider that they are above the law. If you want further clarification, check out the evidence now coming out about Dick Cheney's REAL involvement in the Plame leak. He's going to make Spiro Agnew look like Mother Teresa by comparison by the time this is over. As one WP commentator said, like Tony Soprano in the WH.
If you want to spread paleocon lies, do it with your own words, don't try to hide behind or pervert mine, coward.
8 - Dave Nalle
Damn Spiro Agnew kicked some ass. Thanks for reminding me of him.
9 - Nancy
You're entirely welcome. Whatever happened to him, BTW - is he dead yet?
10 - Dave Nalle
I think you're confusing him with Generalissimo Francisco Franco, though both are good and dead.
11 - Bird of Paradise
Your comments are very interesting. So are mine. You see, I filed this post under the headiing "news" instead of "opinion." Everything in it (except for the next to last paragraph which is speculation) is simply saying what is happening in as objective a way as possible. While I am optimistic I am not even taking a stand on whether I support the surge or not.
It seems that the Bush-haters cannot even think objectively anymore. If Bush says it . . . it is a lie or a pompous, idiotic, monstrous, delusional insanity.
This is not dialogue. It is not comment. It is ranting.
Shark, While your tone is negative, you at least identify the "down-side" of what is being attempted. It could go that way . . . or it could go in a more positive way . . . as vox populi has mentioned. Most likely it will (as Bush himself has said) go both ways.
Will the sacrifice be worth it in the end?
Here's where we seem to differ. I have hope for something good to come of this. Most of you have already damned the whole effort to hell.
I suggest you read some of the milblogs and some of the embed reports from folks like Michael Yon. These folks don't give a damn about Cheney or Bush or Pelosi or Reid. They seem to know why they are there and are doing their best to make it work.
The remarkable thing is that, even when they and their buddies are being blown up, kidnapped and murdered they are still positive about what they are doing . . . and seeing progress every day.
Perhaps they are wrong. I don't know. I'm not there . . . but neither are you.
12 - Dave Nalle
Bird, given the level of pure hatred displayed in some of the comment threads here, you deserve some credit for even trying to post something objective. Truth may be your armor, but people like shark will still try to smear it in shit.
The remarkable thing is that, even when they and their buddies are being blown up, kidnapped and murdered they are still positive about what they are doing
Interestingly, I encountered some MIA/POW info for Iraq the other day. Do you realize that we currently have only 1 MIA soldier in Iraq and that every other captured soldier in the past two years was rescued alive by our forces. That's the kind of thing which gets no coverage at all.
13 - Bird of Paradise
Vox, I wish that what you said was true. However, we had two GIs captured and brutally tortured (eyes poked out, etc) before being killed just a few months ago. On January 20 we saw the elaborate special ops attack against our forces in Karbala where one GI was killed in the attack and four others kidnapped and later murdered 30 miles away.
Unfortunately, not all missing GIs are being found alive. But they are being found. I do believe that this part of your post is correct. Only one MIA so far.
14 - troll
vox #6 - link or source please
thanks
15 - Baronius
I don't follow paragraph three. Are you saying that Sunnis are the murders or murderers? Either way, there is plenty of evidence of intra-sect violence.
16 - zingzing
i think he's trying to say something like, "them muzzlams is killin they selves." doesn't matter which side is dying, because as long as it's not us fucking up the country with our bullets, it's like it doesn't happen at all. and that's our rose-tinted silver lining of the day.
17 - Nancy
Well, the latest this weekend is that some Shi'ite cleric leader of an apocalyptic group calling themselves "Soldiers of God" decided he was going to go wipe out his fellow Shi'ites during the holiday festivities, thereby creating the proper conditions for the Mahdi to come again. As someone else said, kind of like the Jesuits storming the Vatican to bring on Christ's second coming. You'd think his fellows would put this fella in a nice padded cell somewhere, but no: he had over 600 followers to help him. (The Iraqi government claims they took out at least 600 in 2 pitched battles). Bunch of savages.
18 - Martin Lav
The surge is all about withdrawal....
19 - Dave Nalle
Nancy, have you read my article on the Ashura festival? Savage barely begins to describe Shiite behavior on this 'holy' day.
Dave
20 - Nancy
I don't think so. I'd like to. Is it in the BC archives? Thanks.
21 - Dave Nalle
You can find it here, Nancy. But let me warn you up front not to go there if you are at all squeamish or have a tender stomach. It's gruesome and I included pictures.
Dave
22 - Nancy
Yes, I did read it, but I just read it again. Excellent as usual, and you're right: they're psychopathic & unreasoning/-able. I think maybe I was right on another thread & we should just poison their water or drop ebola-infected money on them.
23 - MCH
"Now if the military could just close those borders with the terrorists and invaders on the other side we might actually see some progress."
- Vox Populi
Any particular reason you're not over there now, helping out?
24 - MCH
"Truth may be your armor..."
- Vox Populi
Oh really...? Kinda like GW's "The reason I wasn't flying at Dannelly is because they didn't have the same kind of planes there"...??
25 - Baronius
Interesting point, MCH.