Petraeus, Crocker Testify on Iraq-Namese War

General David Petraeus and Ambassdor Ryan Crocker briefed the US Senate on conditions in Iraq-Nam yesterday. The general categorized the security progress made in the country as “fragile and reversible.” The US and its Green Zone Government pals have seen “significant but uneven progress.” He added, “The situation in certain areas is still unsatisfactory and innumerable challenges remain.” The ambassador’s contribution consisted largely of nodding, but he did claim that the Iraq-Namese parliament had passed some legislation that would boost “reconciliation and nation building.” Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) essentially called them on this, “Our current open-ended commitment is an invitation to continuing dependency.”

While the general and ambassador were sitting in front of the TV cameras, events in Iraq-Nam moved quickly and rendered much of what they had to say out-of-date at best. Today, Moqtada al-Sadr had scheduled a million Muslim march in Baghdad to protest the US occupation. However, he indefinitely postponed it yesterday. His reason was the Green Zone Government’s interference in allowing his followers to assemble in the first place.

On Monday, Prime Minister al-Maliki said that the Madhi Army had to disband. In response yesterday, Hojetoleslam al-Sadr threatened to call off the unilateral ceasefire that his Madhi Army has observed since August. After having defeated the government in the Battle of Basra over the week-end (General Petraeus called the attack on the Sadrists “disappointing”), his is no idle threat. Should he decide that violence offers him a better deal, he’ll take it. The Madhi Army has spent seven months rebuilding and training. Without US airpower, the Green Zone Government probably couldn’t win if it came to violence.

Thus, the claim that the surge in US troop levels has improved the security situation in Iraq-Nam just isn’t true. Joao Silva reported in the New York Times yesterday, “Figures compiled by the American military showed that attacks specifically on military targets in Baghdad more than tripled in March, one of many indications that violence has begun to rise again after months of gains in the wake of an American troop increase. Overall attacks on Baghdad more than doubled, to 631 in March from 239 in February, reflecting new strikes against the Green Zone, the fortified headquarters for Iraqi and American officials, as well as renewed fighting in Sadr City between the Madhi Army and American and Iraqi forces.” Moreover, at least 11 Americans have died in Iraq-Nam since Sunday.

With the surge having run its course, America now starts to draw down troops until July, when General Petraeus wants a 45-day pause to assess the situation. What he will find in September is much what he said exists now, “Countless sectarian fault-lines still exist in Baghdad and elsewhere.” In short, the Green Zone Government is prepared to fight to the last American, and Senator Levin was right. The current policy only encourages dependency, and it costs America billions as well as irreplaceable patriots’ lives. The pro-war faction is very good at speculating about what an American withdrawal would mean, but they aren’t very good at admitting to what staying is doing to America and to Iraq-Nam.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home