Patrick Cockburn writes a must read article about the surge in Iraq. "Iraq: Violence is down- but not because of America's Surge". He destroys the Republican talking points. S.Palin mocked Obama about not wanting "victory". McCain threw a tantrum because he wanted Obama to admit the "surge" was working. And Bush has launched propaganda to convince us that things are much better in Iraq because of the surge.
Three questions come to my mind. Have we lost the war? Has the killing settled down between the Shia and Sunni? Will McCain's ignorance ignite another civil war among the Shia and Sunni?
General Petraeus says "this is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade... it's not a war with a simple slogan".
The MSM is not reporting on the violence.We don't hear about the 30,000 US soldiers wounded in Iraq.
The reason the number of American soldiers killed has fallen is because the war against the Iraqis who were in control under Saddam Hussein, has largely ended. It did so because the Sunni were being defeated, not so much by the US army as by the Shia government and the Shia militias.
The surge only achieved the degree of success it did because Iran, which played a central role in getting Nouri al-Maliki appointed Prime Minister in 2006, decided to back his government fully. It negotiated a ceasefire between the Iraqi government and the powerful movement of Muqtada al-Sadr in Basra, persuading the cleric to call his militiamen off the streets there, in March and again two months later in the Sadrist stronghold of Sadr City.
The surge only achieved the degree of success it did because of Iran. It negotiated a ceasefire between the Iraqi government and the powerful movement of Muqtada al-Sadr in Basra, persuading the cleric to call his militiamen off the streets there, in March and again two months later in the Sadrist stronghold of Sadr City.
If McCain wins the presidential election in November, his lack of understanding of what is happening in Iraq could ignite a fresh conflict.In so far as the surge has achieved military success, it is because it implicitly recognises America's political defeat in Iraq.
What exactly is victory for McCain?http://www.independent.co.uk/...