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Friday, September 05, 2008

The surge is working!!!!!!
Posted by Jill | 9:40 AM
That is, if by "working" you mean this:
Small scale bombings and shootings persist in the capital — each a reminder that the war is not over and that Baghdad remains a place where no trip is routine and residents are still guided by precautions.

Most won't drive at night. Many try to avoid heavily clogged streets, remembering that suicide bombers and other attackers intent on killing large numbers of civilians favor traffic jams or congested areas.

Baghdad is the key to stability in Iraq as the center of government and as a potential symbol of reconciliation among rival groups. This flagship role, however, also makes it coveted ground for militias and insurgents fighting efforts to fully restore order.


or this:

Dawood was two miles from his office in central Baghdad's Khilani Square where he worked as a civil engineer when the bomb exploded. It was stashed near a police post, although it was unclear whether that was the target.

The blast killed him and Hameed Miziel, a 37-year-old laborer, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk to the media.

Moments before the blast, mechanic Qassim Mohammed jumped out of a minibus, deciding to walk the rest of the way to his shop despite the punishing Baghdad sun. None of those who stayed in the bus was hurt.

"I saw the fire of the explosion and two women fell on the street. Then, I found myself at the hospital with wounds to my right shoulder and leg and shrapnel wounds on my face," he said later at a nearby hospital.

The mother, who gave her name only as "Umm Mohammed" or "mother of Mohammed," said she chose to beg in that area — a busy intersection lined with car and generator repair shops — because she thought it was safe.

"I used to beg in different areas, but recently I came to this intersection because I thought it was safe there. Thank God, my injury and my sons' were not serious," the 36-year-old widow said from the hospital where she was treated for a leg wound.

In Baghdad, however, safe is a relative term.

U.S. and Iraqi officials do not routinely release figures on the number of bombs that explode each month in Baghdad, citing security.

According to Iraqi police, however, at least five small bombs explode on average each month in the area where the bombing occurred Tuesday: near the intersection on the eastern side of the Tigris River. Less than two weeks ago, a pair of bombs exploded almost simultaneously near the intersection, killing three civilians.


Because nothing says "stability" like small-scale bombings, suicide bombers, and other attackers that are still present to such a degree that the U.S. military won't even release the numbers that they claim are a sign of the "surge"'s success.

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1 Comments:
Blogger Charles D said...
Obviously the surge is not working. Any progress made in reducing violence in Iraq is a result of the ethnic cleansing of Baghdad and the Sunni militant groups the US paid to switch to "our" side. Even if you count those as part of the "surge", it isn't working.

So why does Obama say it is working? Why the F*&^ do Democrats give up the main Republican talking point before they even start talking?
9/5/08, 10:28 AM  
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