The Reality in Iraq (PV Maybe)

[Etta Place]

December 30, 2007
2007 Worst Year Yet in Iraq

by Dahr Jamail
Despite all the claims of improvements, 2007 has been the worst year yet in Iraq.

One of the first big moves this year was the launch of a troop "surge" by the U.S. government in mid-February. The goal was to improve security in Baghdad and the western al-Anbar province, the two most violent areas. By June, an additional 28,000 troops had been deployed to Iraq, bringing the total number up to more than 160,000.

By autumn, there were over 175,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq. This is the highest number of U.S. troops deployed yet, and while the U.S. government continues to talk of withdrawing some, the numbers on the ground appear to contradict these promises.

The Bush administration said the "surge" was also aimed at curbing sectarian killings, and to gain time for political reform for the government of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

During the surge, the number of Iraqis displaced from their homes quadrupled, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent. By the end of 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there are over 2.3 million internally displaced persons within Iraq, and over 2.3 million Iraqis who have fled the country.

Iraq has a population around 25 million.

The non-governmental organization Refugees International describes Iraq's refugee problem as "the world's fastest growing refugee crisis."

In October the Syrian government began requiring visas for Iraqis. Until then it was the only country to allow Iraqis in without visas. The new restrictions have led some Iraqis to return to Baghdad, but that number is well below 50,000.

A recent UNHCR survey of families returning found that less than 18 percent did so by choice. Most came back because they lacked a visa, had run out of money abroad, or were deported.

Sectarian killings have decreased in recent months, but still continue. Bodies continue to be dumped on the streets of Baghdad daily.

One reason for a decrease in the level of violence is that most of Baghdad has essentially been divided along sectarian lines. Entire neighborhoods are now surrounded by concrete blast walls several meters high, with strict security checkpoints. Normal life has all but vanished.

The Iraqi Red Crescent estimates that eight out of ten refugees are from Baghdad.

By the end of 2007, attacks against occupation forces decreased substantially, but still number more than 2,000 monthly. Iraqi infrastructure, like supply of potable water and electricity are improving, but remain below pre-invasion levels. Similarly with jobs and oil exports. Unemployment, according to the Iraqi government, ranges between 60-70 percent.

An Oxfam International report released in July says 70 percent of Iraqis lack access to safe drinking water, and 43 percent live on less than a dollar a day. The report also states that eight million Iraqis are in need of emergency assistance.

"Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, healthcare, education, and employment," the report says. "Of the four million Iraqis who are dependent on food assistance, only 60 percent currently have access to rations through the government-run Public Distribution System (PDS), down from 96 percent in 2004."

Nearly 10 million people depend on the fragile rationing system. In December, the Iraqi government announced it would cut the number of items in the food ration from ten to five due to "insufficient funds and spiraling inflation." The inflation rate is officially said to be around 70 percent.

The cuts are to be introduced in the beginning of 2008, and have led to warnings of social unrest if measures are not taken to address rising poverty and unemployment.

Iraq's children continue to suffer most. Child malnutrition rates have increased from 19 percent during the economic sanctions period prior to the invasion, to 28 percent today.

This year has also been one of the bloodiest of the entire occupation. The group Just Foreign Policy, "an independent and non-partisan mass membership organization dedicated to reforming U.S. foreign policy," estimates the total number of Iraqis killed so far due to the U.S.-led invasion and occupation to be 1,139,602.

This year 894 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, making 2007 the deadliest year of the entire occupation for the U.S. military, according to ICasualties.org.

To date, at least 3,896 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

A part of the U.S. military's effort to reduce violence has been to pay former resistance fighters. Late in 2007, the U.S. military began paying monthly wages of 300 dollars to former militants, calling them now "concerned local citizens."

While this policy has cut violence in al-Anbar, it has also increased political divisions between the dominant Shia political party and the Sunnis – the majority of these "concerned citizens" being paid are Sunni Muslims. Prime Minister Maliki has said these "concerned local citizens" will never be part of the government's security apparatus, which is predominantly composed of members of various Shia militias.

Underscoring another failure of the so-called surge is the fact that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad remains more divided than ever, and hopes of reconciliation have vanished.

According to a recent ABC/BBC poll, 98 percent of Sunnis and 84 percent of Shia in Iraq want all U.S. forces out of the country.

Inter Press Service

Find this article at:
http://www.antiwar.com/jamail/?articleid=12134


This article seems to contradict what we are hearing in the media. Could it be the "good" news is being emphasized because we're in an election year?

[Judge]

Dahr Jamail???? Is that anohter AQ propagandist posing as a journalist?

Leave it to you Etta, if there's anything out there that makes the US and it's troops look bad, you're gonna find it and post it.

The fact is, You'd have to go back to February 2004 to find a month with comparable numbers casualty numbers.



Numbers from icasualties.org
With 24 hours remaining...
The US military is on track to see the lowest number of monthly fatalities in Iraq since the war began in March, 2003.

In February 2004 the US lost 20 soldiers in the 29 day period.
This month the US has lost 21 soldiers in the 31 day period.

The Bush Surge continues to show amazing results.

This follows the news yesterday that 75% of the Al-Qaeda network has been eliminated in Iraq.

MORE... General David Petraeus announced on Saturday that violent attacks in Iraq had fallen by 60 percent since June.



I know it pains you that we are winning and we have the support of the iIraqi people...

[Frenchy]

And your sources are any less biased...Give me a break.

[Etta Place]

Originally Posted by Judge

Dahr Jamail???? Is that anohter AQ propagandist posing as a journalist?

Leave it to you Etta, if there's anything out there that makes the US and it's troops look bad, you're gonna find it and post it.

The fact is, You'd have to go back to February 2004 to find a month with comparable numbers casualty numbers.



Numbers from icasualties.org
With 24 hours remaining...
The US military is on track to see the lowest number of monthly fatalities in Iraq since the war began in March, 2003.

In February 2004 the US lost 20 soldiers in the 29 day period.
This month the US has lost 21 soldiers in the 31 day period.

The Bush Surge continues to show amazing results.

This follows the news yesterday that 75% of the Al-Qaeda network has been eliminated in Iraq.

MORE... General David Petraeus announced on Saturday that violent attacks in Iraq had fallen by 60 percent since June.



I know it pains you that we are winning and we have the support of the iIraqi people...

You automatically assume Dahr Jamail is al Qaeda? I would call that racist. Dahr Jamail is a fourth generation Lebanese American who was born in Houston.

I don't accept the "official" version of what's going on in Iraq. We have an election going on and it benefits the Republican Party to have things go favorably in Iraq.

Even if what USA Today and Petraeus said is true, it doesn't negate what Dahr Jamail said in his article. And, U.S. troops are not the only people in Iraq. What about the Iraqis? They're dying too. They're being forced out of their homes. Their country is in shambles. I certainly wouldn't want to be living in a neighborhood with blast walls and people shooting at each other, bodies being tossed in the street.

[Etta Place]

Originally Posted by Judge

Dahr Jamail???? Is that anohter AQ propagandist posing as a journalist?

Leave it to you Etta, if there's anything out there that makes the US and it's troops look bad, you're gonna find it and post it.

The fact is, You'd have to go back to February 2004 to find a month with comparable numbers casualty numbers.



Numbers from icasualties.org
With 24 hours remaining...
The US military is on track to see the lowest number of monthly fatalities in Iraq since the war began in March, 2003.

In February 2004 the US lost 20 soldiers in the 29 day period.
This month the US has lost 21 soldiers in the 31 day period.

The Bush Surge continues to show amazing results.

This follows the news yesterday that 75% of the Al-Qaeda network has been eliminated in Iraq.

MORE... General David Petraeus announced on Saturday that violent attacks in Iraq had fallen by 60 percent since June.



I know it pains you that we are winning and we have the support of the iIraqi people...

Originally Posted by Etta Place

You automatically assume Dahr Jamail is al Qaeda? I would call that racist. Dahr Jamail is a fourth generation Lebanese American who was born in Houston.

I don't accept the "official" version of what's going on in Iraq. We have an election going on and it benefits the Republican Party to have things go favorably in Iraq.

Even if what USA Today and Petraeus said is true, it doesn't negate what Dahr Jamail said in his article. And, U.S. troops are not the only people in Iraq. What about the Iraqis? They're dying too. They're being forced out of their homes. Their country is in shambles. I certainly wouldn't want to be living in a neighborhood with blast walls and people shooting at each other, bodies being tossed in the street.

Plus, the Bush administration has lied to us and many of our sources of news have regurgitated these lies. I consider the mainstream media in many ways to be a propaganda tool for the government.

The only way that I think things would be going well in Iraq is if we were out of there and the Iraqi people were running their own government, handling their own natural resources and living normally. The fact that things are calming down only gives the hawks in this country - armchair and otherwise - more reason to continue this type of militaristic, interventionist behavior that I am convinced will take our country to ruin.

[thomasward00]

Thought that I would never see this, liberals running wild on a gun forum. What has the country come to....

[Etta Place]

Originally Posted by thomasward00

Thought that I would never see this, liberals running wild on a gun forum. What has the country come to....

[thomasward00]

Originally Posted by Etta Place

You automatically assume Dahr Jamail is al Qaeda? I would call that racist. Dahr Jamail is a fourth generation Lebanese American who was born in Houston.

I don't accept the "official" version of what's going on in Iraq. We have an election going on and it benefits the Republican Party to have things go favorably in Iraq.

Even if what USA Today and Petraeus said is true, it doesn't negate what Dahr Jamail said in his article. And, U.S. troops are not the only people in Iraq. What about the Iraqis? They're dying too. They're being forced out of their homes. Their country is in shambles. I certainly wouldn't want to be living in a neighborhood with blast walls and people shooting at each other, bodies being tossed in the street.

And it benefits the democrats if the soldiers are doing bad, no wonder that in the last 30 years or so the military overwhelmingly vote republican, wonder why?

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by thomasward00

Thought that I would never see this, liberals running wild on a gun forum. What has the country come to....

I'm sure you can find a few fellow "knuckle-draggers" on some of the other gun forums.

[thomasward00]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

I'm sure you can find a few fellow "knuckle-draggers" on some of the other gun forums.

You calling me a knuckle dragger? Typical west coast liberal nut... don't you have a gay pride parade to attend?