So it has pretty much been adopted by many of those who still deny reality that the “decrease in violence” is the proof that the ill fated escalation worked. And it is also evident that John W. McCain has been a chief proponent and certainly the main beneficiary of this absolutely over simplistic and erroneous line of thinking.
But, buried in the hullabaloo of the latest Democrat to be in the cross hairs (due in large part to his own actions), as well as the obsession over the Clinton/Obama tit-for-tat is some news from Iraq that really does not bode well. I offer a bit of analysis, but more in the way of information as to the situation on the ground.
Let’s start with a a new estimate that pegs the cost of this ongoing debacle at $12 BILLION per month in 2008. A conservative estimate by the CBO pegs the cost for Iraq alone at $1 trillion – $1.2 trillion by 2017. I’ll also note that John W. McSame has no intention of getting the troops out of Iraq – rather he is very much in favor of “more wars” (with what troops, popular support and money, I have no idea).
Another trend in Iraq is the continued violence that, despite the ongoing violence and the fact that US troop deaths have been at the same daily rate since January 1, 2005 apparently doesn’t exist according to the “surge believers” like John “four more wars” McSame. Iraqi security force and civilian deaths are on pace for the largest number of deaths since last August.
Oh, but this is a mere blip, right? After all, it is a violent area, except for the fact that there is the general thought that there is no more real violence. Well, not so fast.
I take this with a grain of salt, but there is now a warning that al Qaeda is spreading in Iraq, and may be planning larger scale attacks in the country. And who would have thought that when we armed the Sunni insurgents to fight against al Qaeda that they wouldn’t do the job for us? Of course, when you only know how to outsource the hunt for al Qaeda (among pretty much everything else), you don’t always get the results you were hoping for.
But there is always hope, right?
Well, when you have an ultra-fortified Green Zone and a partitioned off city like Baghdad, there is more than just hope. Sectarian cleansing led to a reduction in violence as there were no more Sunnis or Shiites to kill in certain areas, and at least the increased troop level in Baghdad would lead to less violence there, even if the whack a mole approach led to increased violence elsewhere.
Except for the minor issue of major violence in Baghdad lately. In what was the deadliest day so far this year for US troops, 8 troops and 14 others were killed, with more injured in multiple attacks in Baghdad. This followed a wave of attacks a few days ago where close to 70 people were killed in attacks in the very safe city of Baghdad.
But it isn’t just Baghdad either. A bus hit a roadside bomb in southern Iraq, and this was just one of a number of bombings and blasts that killed another 30 people. As for the targets – not just US troops or Iraqi security forces – they also targeted militias and civilians, a police station, a hotel, a busy traffic intersection and near a mosque and a hospital. No biggie and just another day at the office for someone like John W. McCain, who would be ok with this for another 100 years.
There were over 700 deaths in February, which is close to a third more than January. Already, March is on pace for over 900 deaths. Obviously, the key here is that the invasion was wrong, the prosecution of the invasion and occupation was wrong, the theory behind the invasion and occupation was wrong, and even the excuses and metrics used to measure “success” are flat out wrong.
Things are NOT getting better. There was one measure that was latched onto that “proved” success, and even that is a total fallacy. This is an occupation that John W. McBush wants to continue indefinitely. He is dishonest about the facts on the ground. He is dishonest with his rhetoric. He is out of step with reality. And since the press loves him and his BBQ, someone has to report the truth and smack this country back to reality.
It’s a damn good thing that there was a major link between Saddam and al Qaeda. Oh wait, even the Pentagon has said there was no link.