The Surge is working....trust me

As many of you certainly know, there was a large troop surge that has been taking place in Iraq thanks to the orders of our fearless leader George W. Bush. Now initially this was supposed to be a 20,000 troop surge, but has already exceeded that and is over 30000 so right away we have some misrepresented facts. On top of this it was supposed to quell the rising tide of sectarian violence that has been sweeping through the country. As evidence indicated it hasnt, violence is still at high levels, troops are still dying and the strategy is still ineffective. On top of this we now see evidence of chemical attacks in Iraq. Just today in the New York Times there is evidence of a car bomb attack with chlorine gas which is the sixth such attack in the last 2 months which has killed 20 people. What Bush wants you to believe is that he knows how to fight this war, even though all signs point in the opposite direction. He also wants you to believe that the terrorists arent getting better at what they do as is clearly the case. This is not the tank warfare that the US needs to be in, but rather urban combat that needs to be fought by people who know the country and its people. Until George sets a date for withdrawl and makes the Iraqi government responsible for their safety(they havent reached any of their self imposed benchmarks for success) than he will contin ue to cost many Americans their lives in what can best be described not as our second Vietnam, but rather our Afghanistan as the Russians found out. These middle eastern islamic countires cannot be conquered and cannot be made western, history has proved it time and time again, all you have to do is open a book.

I think it truly speaks volumes that the only real safe area in Baghdad is the area controlled by the cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr. This is a good area, hospitals are running well, children receive an education and food is to be found. But none of this is from the Iraqi government. It is from Sadr who uses his power to dole out aid to the needy citizens of Baghdad. It will be very difficult for the US to win hearts and minds with George Bushs strategy when the government we have installed is completley inept at what it is trying to do and cannot or will not help its people. For more on the safe haven in baghdad read here, its on the Washington Post.