Thank god I read
MSNBC just now, otherwise I would have continued to believe folks like
Juan Cole and
General Zinni.
According to our military:
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said on Thursday Iraq was moving away from the risk of civil war and insurgent and sectarian bloodshed would fall dramatically when a new government of national unity is formed.
And to think we were all so worried here about Iraq being in civil war.
More...
Clearly people like
Former Iraqi PM Allai have been proven to be wrong, as certainly people like Rumsfeld and Bush have never made a mistake in their life.
After reading the Reuters story on MSNBC, I now realize that stories from my local paper, San Jose Mercury News are no longer spreading the 'good news' about Iraq, thus they must be wrong.
The Mercury states:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - One year ago Friday, when Iraq formed its first freely elected government, Americans and Iraqis hoped it would lead to a drop in violence. But Iraqis have continued to die in the thousands, and this year the trend is up.
Figures compiled by The Associated Press over the past 12 months show more than 8,000 people have been killed and there are increasing cases of civilians being kidnapped, killed and dumped in public places.
The numbers offer a counterpoint of caution for Washington's hopes that Iraq's second freely elected government, being formed now, will help curb violence.
Lies, all of it lies, as is the following:
When al-Jaafari took over, U.S. officials and many Iraqis hoped security would improve, but the insurgency soon resumed. Sectarian tensions also began to rise and, with the bombing of an important Shiite shrine two months ago, burst into outright fighting.
AP's figures show that at least 8,107 Iraqis have been killed and 10,519 wounded, most of them civilians, in the year beginning April 28, 2005.
We have turned the corner! I know that to be true because the military has told me so (over and over I might add). So I can safely assume that words like this:
Three of the five largest surges in violence during the year have occurred since January. That is especially true regarding the dumping of bodies. Four of the five biggest increases in that category occurred in the months of March and April.
Are some sort of a terrorist plan by the San Jose Mercury (AP too) to defeat us in Iraq. Come on, we all know that the words printed in our media have a far more reaching effect on civil war in Iraq then do our military operations (or lack of.)
Of course, reading further into the AP story in the Mercury, one can find yet more instances of facts that must have somehow been twisted, like this:
The AP study reaches back one year. Other studies suggest that the violence has increased yearly since the U.S. invasion. Iraq Body Count, a British anti-war group, said more than 12,600 Iraqi civilians were killed in the year ending March 1, up 10 percent from the previous year and about double the total for the first year after the U.S. invaded.
In Iraq's widespread violence, it often is difficult to tell whether insurgents, militias or common criminals are responsible for killings.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad recently said Iraq's militias are killing more people than insurgents are.
Once again I go back to the 'good news' Reuters story on MSNBC, and though there are few facts, the following from the MSNBC/Reuters story reassures our coming victory:
Attacks on civilians had jumped 90 percent across Iraq since a Shiite shrine was bombed in February, but "ethno-sectarian" bloodshed had more than halved in Baghdad in the past week, U.S. spokesman Major General Rick Lynch told a news conference.
"We are not seeing widespread militia operations across Iraq. We are not seeing widespread movement of displaced personnel," he said. "So we do not see us moving towards a civil war in Iraq. In fact we see us moving away from it."
It is so clear, how could AP miss this new "trend?" One week of bloodshed that has been cut in half!
We have all been so wrong to focus on the facts here at Kos, shame on us really. Instead of all the fretting and worry we could have just continued to read "feel good" stories like the Reuters one.
Of course, now that I have read the AP story I will have to reprogram myself by reading the Reuters report a few hundred times until I no longer have any need for "facts" at all.
Silly us, all is well, we have turned the corner, mission accomplished!