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Here's one of a number of news stories about the escalating violence in Iraq, courtesy of al-Sadr's Mahdi army:
This highlights a common fallacy about what is going on in Iraq. Proponents of the "surge" point to the drop in violence in Iraq and assume that the two are connected. The reality, however, is that al-Sadr also stood down in the Anbar province well before the surge started because we had ceded more control of the region to local forces. That same strategy that has been used with success post-surge, it is this strategy that has led to the cease-fire agreed to by the Mahdi army, and that political solution has been the primary reason for the draw-down in violence.
Now, concerned that the cease fire was incorrectly viewed as a sign of weakness, al-Sadr has spent the last few days combining non-violent public protests with decidedly violent shows of force against the Green Zone to highlight his unhappiness with the current situation.
If that cease fire should be allowed to expire, I suspect we're going to be right back where we were before everyone began uncritically patting each other on the back over the "success" of the surge. I think we can all agree that the decreased violence is a good thing, but it's time to be honest about why that is and make sure that our fearless leaders don't allow politics, puffery and needless bravado get in the way of the greater good.
I do believe that Gates has been a major upgrade from Rumsfeld and is actually leading things in the right direction. He needs to be allowed to do his thing without undue pressure from the idiots that got us into this mess to begin with, though.
Pardon the stream of consciousness. Was on my mind as I read some of these stories, thought I'd throw it out there...
This highlights a common fallacy about what is going on in Iraq. Proponents of the "surge" point to the drop in violence in Iraq and assume that the two are connected. The reality, however, is that al-Sadr also stood down in the Anbar province well before the surge started because we had ceded more control of the region to local forces. That same strategy that has been used with success post-surge, it is this strategy that has led to the cease-fire agreed to by the Mahdi army, and that political solution has been the primary reason for the draw-down in violence.
Now, concerned that the cease fire was incorrectly viewed as a sign of weakness, al-Sadr has spent the last few days combining non-violent public protests with decidedly violent shows of force against the Green Zone to highlight his unhappiness with the current situation.
If that cease fire should be allowed to expire, I suspect we're going to be right back where we were before everyone began uncritically patting each other on the back over the "success" of the surge. I think we can all agree that the decreased violence is a good thing, but it's time to be honest about why that is and make sure that our fearless leaders don't allow politics, puffery and needless bravado get in the way of the greater good.
I do believe that Gates has been a major upgrade from Rumsfeld and is actually leading things in the right direction. He needs to be allowed to do his thing without undue pressure from the idiots that got us into this mess to begin with, though.
Pardon the stream of consciousness. Was on my mind as I read some of these stories, thought I'd throw it out there...
