The surge is not working and John McCain, George W. Bush and Joe Lieberman are blatantly lying through their teeth on this. Despite what right-wing blogs are saying, and despite what conservative observers are noting, the plunge in violence is actually the result of an Iraqi political decision made by and implemented by Iraqis, and the drop has little to do with the “surge,” an infusion of 30,000 troops (which wouldn’t fill a Major League stadium) into Baghdad, a city of six million people.

What’s happening is really simple and it’s happening in plain sight. But it just so happens that these two Kool-Aid drinking fools refuse to connect the dots. When someone tells you that the “surge” is working, “enlighten” them with the following facts: In July, 2007, which was America’s bloodiest summer in Iraq, attacks on American-led forces using a lethal type of roadside bomb said to be supplied by Iran reached a new high, according to the American military.

The devices, known as explosively formed penetrators, were used to carry out 99 attacks in July and accounted for a third of the combat deaths suffered by the American-led forces, according to American military officials. Such bombs, which fire a semi-molten copper slug that can penetrate the armor on a Humvee and are among the deadliest weapons used against American forces, are used almost exclusively by Shiite militants.

These Shiite militants are members of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army. As seen this past summer, Muqtada’s fighters shredding American forces - like ducks in a shooting gallery - despite the troop increase which began earlier in the year. This was during a summer in which we were bombarded with news of Iranian/Shia efforts to kill Americans and destabilize the Iraqi government. Then, without warning, Muqtada al-Sadr announced that he had ordered his militia to suspend offensive operations for six months (i.e.: stand down). And no one saw this coming. When this news was reported on August 30th, no one really believed it, much less expected the implementation of an actual cease-fire on the part of Iraq’s Shia fighters.

On September 1st, even the U.S. military admitted that this could be an important — if not the important — development in the situation on the ground in Iraq. “A stand down of Mehdi Army operations would also be an important step in helping Iraqi authorities focus greater attention on achieving the political and economic solutions necessary for progress and less on dealing with criminal activity, sectarian violence, kidnappings, assassinations, and attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces,” the military said.

When that was said by the U.S. military on September 1st, the “surge” was never mentioned. It was all about an Iraqi decision that would succeed or fail on Iraqi actions. The U.S. military was only observing. And guess what happened? U.S. troop deaths began plummet. American deaths dropped from 84 in August, to 65 in September, to 38 in October, with only 23 deaths in December - the lowest tally for a single month in over a year and a half. Having argued for months that Iranian-supplied Shia fighters were the most serious threat to U.S. forces in Iraq, those same forces had suddenly stopped fighting. And it showed.

But rather than recognize this for what it is, John McCain, Joe Lieberman and other right-wingers continue to spin the story as if this was the result of the “surge.” McCain boldly informed students at Coastal Carolina University (SC) that the United States has had “astonishing success” in Iraq as a result of the Petreaus military strategy now in place. However, Senator McCain never mentions the fact that our greatest enemy in Iraq, the Mehdi Army, has suspended battle operations. To exacerbate the spin, our idiot-in-chief said that since the troop increase reached full strength in June, the number of roadside bombs had been cut by half. He said U.S. military deaths were at their lowest in 19 months. Again, no mention of Muqtada al-Sadr, the Mehdi Army or his decision to stand down from combat operations. Predictably, it was all about the “troop increase.”

Unfortunately, no one seems to be calling President Bush, John McCain, Joe Lieberman, or the mainstream media on this ridiculous premise that the “Petreaus strategy” should be credited with the reduction in American deaths. Additionally, no one seems to notice as with everything else in Iraq, that the Iraqis are going to do what they want; when they want. While al-Sadr suspends combat operations, there will be relative peace in Iraq. If he takes them back up, Americans will once gain die in droves.

Believe what you may, but the future of Iraq will only improve based on Iraqi decisions made in Baghdad; not in Washington, D.C. and the halls of Congress. As this situation shows, peace in Iraq solely lies in the hands of Iraqis. It cannot and will never be forced by Americans at the point of a gun. Somebody please drop a bug in McCain’s and Lieberman’s ear before they overdose on Kool-Aid.

Comment by John Parker — January 11, 2008 @ 12:20 pm

What about those of us who join to be a hero? Those that love to fight for RIGHT not just to fight. Those that would be just as happy if no one wanted to fight because they knew we would come to help not to further our own agenda.

I will not characterize all the troops or pretend that I speak for each and every one; however, they do a great job fighting at the behest of the country they trust and believe in. They hope that their beloved country would not abuse their trust. Individual troops do not have the luxury of challenging the overall foreign policy of the United States. If they are given a mission to secure in area, they will secure it. That is why it is up to EVERY CITIZEN to ensure that our military is not misused or abused - when it is, it is our DUTY to our troops as well as our country to correct these transgressions against our military as well as other countries.

You are only the good guy if you ACT like the good guy. Power is not the same as righteousness.