July 24, 2008
President George W. Bush’s Iraq War troop “surge,” which is now ending, got a mixed report card from congressional investigators, who found that many of Bush’s stated goals remain unmet.
The Government Accountability Office reported that violence in Iraq has dropped over the past year, but that the training of Iraqi security forces still lags, Sunni insurgents have not been defeated, cease-fires with Shiite militias are fragile, and political reconciliation has not been achieved.
2 comments:
Why is it that few-if-any commentaries on the "surge" forget to mention that the US has essentially changed sides (from Shiite to Sunni) in Iraq in order to get Sunni cooperation??
This may have been a tactically successful move, but it is only a gloss on an incoherent strategy.
Claudia
A responsible msm would have been all over the administrations surge happy talk. The divisions within the Iraqis, religious, tribal and nationalistic may never be resolved. The unified Iraq army is rife with sectarianism. As Jasons article, supported by the GAO, points out, the surge has not come close to achieving the goals spelled out preceding its start. Count on the 'war party' to continue to hype and spin what few accomplishments have come from it. As the time runs down toward Nov elections the facts will all but disappear in this campaign. The war, bad as it is, is being pushed aside while economic troubles take over headlines. If McCain had any economic strengths it would help him, he doesn't so the war headache is replaced by the economic migraine.
Post a Comment