Has anyone noticed that Iraq, supposedly transformed into an oasis of peace and tranquility by George W. Bush’s troop surge, is growing less peaceful and tranquil by the day?
The nation’s attention has been riveted by the presidential campaign, with its compelling characters and its edge-of-your-seat story line. Iraq is treated almost as a theoretical issue: What would happen there if Barack Obama became president, as opposed to what would happen if Hillary Clinton became president, as opposed to what would happen if John McCain became president? There has been little debate about what’s happening in Iraq right now.
That seems likely to change.
The past several weeks have seen a recrudescence of the kind of horrifying, spectacular violence that the Decider’s surge was supposed to have ended.
Last Thursday, two massive bombs hit a shopping district in the Shiite-dominated Karada neighborhood of Baghdad, killing 68 people and injuring more than 120. That atrocity followed twin car-bomb explosions earlier in the week that killed 24 people and wounded 56 elsewhere in the city.
On Monday came what was described as the worst attack on U.S. forces in months. According to Iraqi police, a suicide bomber approached an American patrol in Baghdad and detonated his explosives, killing five soldiers and injuring three others. U.S. military officials confirmed the deaths but did not immediately give details of the incident.
Also on Monday, a female suicide bomber in Diyala province blew herself up at the home of a Sunni clan leader who had been cooperating with U.S. forces against al-Qaida. Sheik Thaeir Ghadhban al-Karkhi was killed, along with his 5-year-old niece, an adult cousin and a security guard.
Two days earlier, in an orchard near the banks of the Diyala River, Iraqi police announced they had found a mass grave with the decomposed remains of between 50 and 100 people, some of them children. It was unclear who the victims were, or who had killed them.
When the Bush administration celebrates a 60 percent reduction in overall violence in Iraq, it’s easy to forget that this is compared with June 2007, when the sectarian civil war was raging and bombings with scores of victims were a regular occurrence. The surge managed only to reduce the level of violence from apocalyptic to agonizing-and now even those gains seem to be slipping.
Bush’s surge was designed to give the Iraqi government the necessary breathing space for Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds to reach vital compromises. President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki showed their gratitude earlier this month by rolling out the red carpet, literally, for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Bush’s Middle East policy is designed largely to blunt the influence of Iran, which seeks a dominant role in the region. So it must have been galling to the White House to watch as Ahmadinejad swept into Baghdad in a ceremonial motorcade and toured the city with great fanfare. Never one to miss a chance to stick in the needle, Ahmadinejad questioned the motives of those who “visit this country in a stealth manner.”
He was referring to the fact that Bush has to fly unannounced into Iraq and can stay only for a few hours. It would be far too dangerous to let citizens know in advance that their liberator was coming to see to their welfare.
So violence seems to be creeping back, the Iraqi government is showcasing its developing friendship with Iran, and, oh yes, these achievements are costing American taxpayers around $12 billion a month, according to a new book by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and co-author Linda Bilmes. The authors estimate that by 2017, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost the nation between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion.
The Congressional Budget Office projects a somewhat lower cost, estimating that by 2017 the two wars will have consumed between $1.2 trillion and $1.7 trillion. Still, not what you would call chump change.
I’m not aware of any educated guess at how much it might cost if the occupation of Iraq were to last 100 years, as McCain has suggested.
It is unclear whether the recent increase in violence in Iraq is temporary or the beginning of a new and tragic cycle. It’s hard to imagine a return to the level of carnage of a year ago, since by now many of Baghdad’s neighborhoods have been ethnically cleansed. But all of us-even the presidential candidates-had better pay attention.
© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group
“He was referring to the fact that Bush has to fly unannounced into Iraq and can stay only for a few hours. It would be far too dangerous to let citizens know in advance that their liberator was coming to see to their welfare.”
in case you haven’t noticed, bush has to travel unannounced in US as well.
won’t be much better for a John W. McHagee administration either.
The only presidential candidates that appear to have “paid attention” to this are Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, and look what happened to them.
Good luck admonishing “presidential candidates to pay attention” to this.
Eugene, what do you think a President Obama or President Clinton-44 should do in Iraq?
In the near term, Iranian influence is going to increase, which was one of the reasons to not go into Iraq in the first place. Is it likely that the Iraqis will work out the necessary compromise to prevent a civil war as long as we hang around in the area?
Bush’s corporate raid of Iraq is bankrupting our fine land, but I don’t expect the American people to realize what is happening to them anytime soon. Jesus for breakfast, war for lunch and stupidity as an all day snack guarantees that we Americans will be rummaging for soiled rags for clothes in mountains of garbage soon. Remember the story of the blind leading the blind, well, here we go again. It will be a miracle if the American people actually pull up out of this nosedive and elect a democrat. We all better start practicing our “going down with the ship” salute.
Looks like we’re ready for a “double-surge” soon since the situation is changing on the ground.
Congress, we need another $100 billion for the double-surge. Are you with us and the troops, or against us? We’re with you sir.
And so on, and so on…
As I have remarked many times in this forum, the strategies of the Iraqi freedom fighters and civil war guerrillas are following long-tested formats: In the face of of a surge, withdraw and regroup.
This is best summed up by Mao Tse-Tung: When the enemy advances, withdraw; when he stops, harass; when he tires, strike; when he retreats, pursue.
I have also said that actions would decrease in the winter; Spring has arrived in Iraq. By Summer, hostilities will reach a peak greater than at any time in the past 5 years.
The “Surge” is an absolute failure. 18 milestones were identified for the Surge to achieve; only 2 so far have been met, with little hope for any of the others.
As such, the Administration and military have fallen back on doing body counts to demonstrate that the Surge has been a success. Before Summer starts, they will not do body counts any more.
> Has anyone noticed that Iraq,… is growing less peaceful and tranquil by the day?
Bush supporters have 3 answers to this.
1) Torture
2) Air power
3) Attack Iran
This is best summed up by Mao Tse-Tung: When the enemy advances, withdraw; when he stops, harass; when he tires, strike; when he retreats, pursue.
Sun Tzu actually, the ‘Art of War’. One of humanity’s first books… Says a lot about us as a species that that’s what gets published first. He also wrote that if you know yourself and you know your enemy you’ll be successful, if you know yourself -but not your enemy - you’ll sometimes be successful, but if you don’t know yourself and you don’t know your enemy you’ll not be successful. I guess that bush doesn’t really know himself, how frickin surprising.
I believe Sun Tzu said Avoid the enemy when he is full of vigor, strike when he is fatigued and withdraws.. I believe Mao was responsible for the quote I gave.
Nevertheless, both were remarkable men of strategy, something that is shamefully missing from US forces bred on cold-war angst and a MIC hell-bent on profit.
Just a few hours ago:
“‘I strongly believe the surge is working and so do the Iraqis,’ Bush said.”
Working so well, apparently, that he had to kick Adm. Fallon to the curb, cause he wanted to wait before “crushing” the Iranians like “ants,” as he so eloquently told Esquire.
And, with the “surge” working so well, NOW is apparently the time to crush those damn Persian ants… before We The People start actually paying attention to the complete world financial meltdown occurring right in front of our blind eyes…
frank1569,
Something tells me that the Persian ants are not the only ones who will be crushed. With the help of Israel, I think Lebanese, Syrian, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other ants considered to be “terrorist” or “terrorist-sponsors” also will get crushed. I think we are going to see the final act where the US and Israel permanently will “purge” the ME of terrorists (I know this will prove difficult to do against guerilla warfare, but a nuclear weapon might be a negotiating tool). Also keep an eye on Russia (the fighter planes flying over US warships is not an exercise for fun), and China and North Korea (we might see an alliance here since both countries are heavily invested in Iranian goods). Scary thought of the day: George the Inferior actually might be serious about World War III.
Good comment and quote, WTF (March 11th, 2008 1:37 pm), whatever the source.
Frank1589, this is the same Bush who doesn’t know what gas costs and thinks we may be heading toward a slight economic downturn but that our “fundamentals” are good.
Yep, they dumped Fallon to pave way for Bush’s ‘legacy’ as the ‘Conqueror of Islamofascist Iran’ — or, at least, that’s how the paid ’scholars’ at his presidential library will write it. The rest of us will know it as the Unmitigated Catastrophe That Turned the Middle East Against Us for 50 Years as we pay $10 a gallon for gas.
I thought that it was telling today that Petreaus was on CNN doing a walk-and-talk interview in Baghdad through one of the ’safe’ neighborhoods where ‘violence is down’. Petraeus was shadowed by heavily-armed soldiers and dressed in full battle rattle including a thick flak jacket, and I noticed the street was empty of Iraqis. Even the CNN interviewer was holding on tightly to her Kevlar helmet and warily scanning the area. Goebbels couldn’t do it any better: Yes, indeed, the surge has worked to make Baghdad as safe as a flea market in Indiana!
Iraq is going to be hell this summer — both the Shia Mahdi Army and the Sunni groups we’ve been arming and paying off are chomping at the bit to mix it up and our guys will be caught in the crossfire.
I can’t believe Fallon retired! I’m sick, just sick…I could honestly cry, he was my one hope for some semblance of sanity…I figure we’ll start bombing Iran in April, I’m sure that’s why Fallon resigned, he wouldn’t go along with it, just like he said he wouldn’t. DISGUSTING!!!!! Someone has to stop this friggin lunatic before he starts WW3…
Sorry for the tedious reminder, but …
The war ended in 2003. Iraq has since been an occupation.
That’s why Bush can sneak in there unannounced … he’s the “leader” of the country (well, OK, he’s Cheney’s proxy. Still …). How many foreign leaders get to jet into the States secretly and surprise Bush with five minutes’ warning?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5076038.stm
frank1569, I agree that an attack on Iran will also be used as a pretence for a war against Syria and anti-imperialist elements in Lebanon (using Israeli forces). I suspect that Hezbollah will only be crushed in the same way they were crushed in 2006 by Israel, and the way Islamic resistance was crushed by Reagan chickening out in 1984 because he didn’t get a simple victory but a bloody good hiding instead. It will also be similar to the victorious way the US forces have completely crushed Iraqi resistance.
In fact, on Monday 8 US soldiers were so pleased with how well they had helped to destroy Iraqi resistance they spontaneoulsy exploded.
From a psychological perspective, it’s important to consider how and why White House warmongering and its marketing of the “surge” as a success have proven so effective. I’ve tried to address these questions in a 10-minute online video entitled “Resisting the Drums of War.” It examines how the Bush administration has promoted the misguided and destructive war and occupation of Iraq by targeting five core concerns that often govern our lives–concerns about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. Looking ahead, the continuing occupation of Iraq–or an attack on Iran–will likely be sold to us in much the same way. The video examines these warmongering appeals and offers suggestions for how to counter them. It’s available for viewing HERE.
And thank goodness that the coming depression will supply all the cannon fodder Madman McCain needs to keep invading “Islamo-facist land” for years. It’s funny how those things seem to always work out.
The one saving grace, the one thing that may stop a BushCo attack on Iran is that most of the Pentagon is against it. They well know how weakened and overdeployed the US military is — precluding a ground invasion — and how vulnerable our troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan. Any massive air attack on Iran would surely spark a revolt against us by the 100,000-strong Mahdi Army is Iraq and their allies. It would be a bloodbath. The Pentagon, for all of its faults, doesn’t want to see the destruction of the US military machine and they would have to carry out Bush’s orders. Congress might also seriously contemplate impeachment if Bush starts another war. Cooler heads may prevail yet.