I borrow Jon Stewart’s nomenclature for a good reason this morning. Things really do seem to be back where we started, with another US commander in Iraq, scraping to find a tale of success, any success whatsoever, to pin to Our Dear leader’s ass (via WaPo):
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the ongoing increase of nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in the country has achieved “modest progress” but has also met with setbacks such as a rise in devastating suicide bombings and other problems that leave uncertain whether his counterinsurgency strategy will ultimately succeed.
U.S. commanders say sectarian murders fell from 1,200 in Baghdad in January to fewer than 400 in March. Markets are reopening, and a few thousand families have trickled back to areas they had fled.
But they agreed that among the most troubling trends in Iraq has been the proliferation of suicide bomb attacks, because they risk reigniting sectarian revenge killings and undermining the government. Suicide bombings have increased 30 percent over the six weeks that ended in early April, according to military data.
“When you have these big explosions, there is a very high risk of a major setback because it sends a message of instability and insecurity,” said Fallon, head of U.S. Central Command.
It is virtually impossible to eliminate the suicide bombings, the commanders acknowledged. “I don’t think you’re ever going to get rid of all the car bombs,” Petraeus said. “Iraq is going to have to learn — as did, say, Northern Ireland — to live with some degree of sensational attacks.” A more realistic goal, he said, but one that has eluded U.S. and Iraqi forces, is to prevent the bombers from causing “horrific damage.”
If that isn’t lowering the bar of our “surging” expectations, I don’t know what it is. Somehow, I don’t recall the same level of violence in Northern Ireland during the worst of the “troubles” as being comparable to what Iraq is experiencing today. As for the Iraqis, I think they have learned that bombings aren’t something you live with, they’re something you run away from:
(cont.)
Millions of Iraqis have been forced to leave their homes because of the continuing violence in the country. Many of them have fled to Damascus where the Syrian government is asking why the Americans and the British are not doing more to ease the refugee problem. […]
I ask Hussain why he left the real Baghdad.
He raises one leg of his black and red tracksuit to reveal a round dark circle, a scar.
Then he pulls up one sleeve and shows me another – the marks of bullets meant to kill him when he was working at the Ministry of the Interior, a place reputed to be dominated by Shia hit squads.
He is Shia himself.
Here he sits with Basel, a Sunni Muslim.
So why did Basel leave?
Basel makes a slitting motion across his throat.
Meanwhile, stop me if you’ve heard this one before (via Reuters):
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said on Monday Iraq’s feuding leaders had to move away from an all or nothing approach to reach the broad political compromises necessary for healing their fractured country.
Ryan Crocker, in his first news conference since arriving in Baghdad in March, said the months ahead for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s shaky coalition government would be critical.
Critical months ahead, eh. Where have we heard that before? Oh, yeah, now I remember. Most recently back in March of this year, bit there are a few others instances (h/t Fabius Maximus) where we’ve heard that word bandied about in connection with the “Central Front” in the War on Terror:
“The important thing is to realize we are about to enter into a very critical six months … We have got to get on top of the security situation properly and we have got to manage the transition. Both of those things are going to be difficult.”
January 4, 2004
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
Speaking during a surprise visit to Iraq“Iraq now faces a critical moment.“
May 24, 2004
President Bush
Speaking at the United States Army War College“The next few months will be critical as the new government must establish security, continue to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure, and prepare the Iraqi people for national elections scheduled for January 2005.”
July 22, 2004
Senator Richard G. Lugar (Republican – Indiana)
Statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee“I think the next nine months are critical.”
June 29, 2005
Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq
Speaking on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered”“I have long been invested with ensuring the development of a peaceful, democratic Iraq. We are nearing the resolution of that process, and the next months will be critical.”
August 4, 2005
Ambassador John Bolton, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Statement to the Security Council“The next 75 days are going to be critical for what happens”
September 29, 2005
General George Casey, Commanding General of coalition forces in Iraq
Testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee“And the developments over the next several months will be critical – as General Casey and General Abizaid and the secretary made very clear over the course of last week – as the constitutional referendum in the mid part of this month, the general elections in mid-December and then the subsequent formation of a new government all take place.”
October 5, 2005
Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, Former Commander, Multi-National Transition Command Iraq and NATO Training Mission Iraq
News Briefing“And we’re seeing a lot of them [officials from the Iraqi government] because this is a critical time in Iraq going into the elections, and it is very important that these elections produce an outcome, that it reflects the will of the Iraqi people, that results in a government – that is broadly based, drawing from all elements of the Iraqi society, that gets stood up quickly and is a strong government that can take the kinds of difficult, economic and security decisions that the new government is going to have.”
November 10, 2005
Steve Hadley, National Security Advisor
Comments at White House Press Briefing“But it was necessary for the president to go out and reinforce to our troops and the other coalition forces and to the world that we have a resolve in these next four to six months in Iraq which are critical to bring about achievement of our goals. … We should not at this time in these critical four to six months be worrying about a timetable to withdraw or even talking about it.”
November 30, 2005
Senator John W. Warner (Republican-Virginia)
PBS “Online Newhour”“The next six months will be critical in terms of reining in the danger of civil war. If the government fails to achieve this, it will have lost its opportunity.”
June 7, 2006
Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to Iraq
Interviewed in Der Spiegel“Time is short, level of violence is great and the margins of error are narrow. The government of Iraq must act. The government of Iraq needs to show its own citizens soon and the citizens of the United States that it is deserving of continued support. The next three months are critical. Before the end of this year, this government needs to show progress in securing Baghdad, pursuing national reconciliation and delivering basic services.”
September 19, 2006
Lee Hamilton, former Congressman (Democrat – Indiana), member of the Iraq Study Group“The next six months are likely to be critical in determining whether the situation in Iraq turns worse or whether we may yet salvage a measure of political stability that addresses our long-term security interests in the region.“
Rep. Mark Udall (Democrat – Colorado)
June 22, 2006
Iraq has been in a critical condition for so long, you have to wonder if, like a person with a terminal disease on life support, we are just prolonging the agony:
Suicide bombers killed 26 people in a series of attacks across Iraq on Monday, including one in a restaurant near the heavily fortified, sprawling Green Zone compound in Baghdad, where Crocker was giving his news conference.
The bombings come as tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops sweep through the capital, setting up checkpoints and combat outposts in neighborhoods and seal off some areas with concrete walls in a bid to curb the rampant violence. […]
Among Monday’s attacks, a suicide car bomb killed 10 people and wounded 20 in an attack on the office of a Kurdish political party near the northern city of Mosul, police said.
In Baquba, north of Baghdad, a suicide car bomber killed 10 policemen, including the police chief, and wounded 23 others, police said.
Police in Baghdad said a suicide bomber had walked into the restaurant near the Green Zone in the mixed area of the Karradet Mariam neighborhood, killing six people and wounding 11.
More bombings in the Green Zone despite the surge? Yes, things sure have gotten critical over there. Not to be critical about it, but isn’t it just possible it’s time to say good-bye?
Ps. Looks like Ambassador Crocker didn’t get the memo about Iraq having a sovereign government:
In a new military tactic to stop the bombers, U.S. troops have begun walling off some flashpoint neighborhoods in Baghdad with concrete barriers, but the move has drawn sharp criticism from some Sunni and Shi’ite political parties.
Maliki said on Sunday during a visit to Cairo that he had ordered the U.S. military to stop work on a 12-foot (3.6-metre) high barrier around the Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya.
Asked if construction of the wall around Adhamiya had been halted, Crocker said:
“Obviously we will respect the wishes of the government and the prime minister … I am not sure where we are right now concerning our discussions on this particular issue.”
Is it just me, or does that sound like Ambassador Crocker just told Prime Minister Malaki to go fuck himself?
