Statistics show the downside of the ’surge.’
By on Aug 24th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Statistics show the downside of the ’surge.’
In an effort to figure out whether the “surge” is working, the Washington Monthly’s Kevin Drum put together charts comparing violence and infrastructure trends in Iraq for June/July 2006 and June/July 2007. Using data from the Brookings Institution’s Iraq Index, Drum concludes that “the news sure doesn’t look very good.” View his charts here.
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Bush’s surge is a failure, but he will always proclaim it as a success.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:20 pmHe’s doing it all wrong. You’ve got to compare 11:30am, August 24, 2007 with 11:30am, August 23, 2007. It’s a “surge” so the progress can’t be found by comparing with previous years. You’ve got to evaluate it minute by minute.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:21 pmAnd you wonder why no one takes you seriously!!!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:31 pmEVEN if the surge is a success, what then??? That country does not want to be a US style democracy. They want us gone, even if they were a democracy they would vote to declare war against the US after we have fu**ed that country. No one there does not have friends or family members that died because of this WAR of deliverance, or war against terra. WHY does the right listen to the BUSH administration??? Just insane…
August 24th, 2007 at 2:32 pmI think Congress should just pull Michael Ware (who reports for CNN) in to testify about what is now and has been happening on the ground. His reporting is direct and hard hitting. He has been there forever. He would tell them EXACTLY what they need to know to make an informed decision about how to proceed, what is working and what ISN’T!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:32 pmWhy do the facts hate America?
August 24th, 2007 at 2:34 pmI am not clear what working surge means…
That we have slaughtered enough Iraqi’s so they will sign the Hydrocarbon Law giving up 70% to 80% of their oil to US and British Oil corporations???? Or that enough Iraqi’s have killed each other creating genocide so we can easily go in and make Iraq another state of the US?
What we have done to Iraq has to be one of the ugliest nastiest events to go down in history.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:36 pmGeneral Betrayus must be in Iraq saying to himself, WTF.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:37 pmAnd you wonder why no one takes you seriously!!!
Comment by Makarios — August 24, 2007 @ 2:31 pm
A bit of projection here.
I don’t know what to say, I would think that at best the surgeâ„¢ would provide a mixed bag. Some areas of Iraq, are not as violent, however the major part, the political need of the Iraqi government to rule, is in shambles. I suppose we could give them another Friedman to two…
August 24th, 2007 at 2:37 pmPost 7 > brain scans have been done on GOPers and there seems to be an organic misfiring of thought processes. The mental disorder you rail about is your own bud.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:39 pmThe nefarious compiler of the chart using the Brooking’s Institute’s doubtful numbers (Brookings is a leftard-leaning think-tank) is obviously invested in an Al-Qaeda victory in Iraq and, conversely, rooting for a US loss in Iraq, a loss that increasingly looks less likely.
Comment by LiberalismisMentalDisorder — August 24, 2007 @ 2:35 pm
Please feel free to supply us with the correct numbers.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pmthings are going smashingly well, i’d say…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
August 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pmFIX YOUR EFFING SITE TP!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:43 pmOriginal post 7 has been deleted, so my post 10 no longer applies to 7.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:45 pmWhat we have done to Iraq has to be one of the ugliest nastiest events to go down in history.
Agreed.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:49 pmThey keep saying if we leave, it is surrender. To who? What is surrender? They don’t want to lose. What is lose? What is win? What do those things even look like? I don’t even know who we are fighting? Al Qaeda is only a very tiny percent of the ‘enemy’ in Iraq. These are factions who are fighting each other and we are stuck in the middle not knowing who the ‘enemy’ even is.
Words are smoke meant to bring about an emotional kneejerk response. Why not try out a different strategy (such as pulling out troops and pushing hard with the diplomatic strategies to bring the sides together) if there is a possibility of being succesful. Isn’t the point bringing an end to the violence and helping the Iraqis to establish their own government and autonomy? Don’t they have to do this themselves in order to ‘own it’? Wouldn’t that be winning?
Of course that won’t happen because that isn’t why we are there. We won’t leave until we have taken control of all the oil resources in the region (not just in Iraq). That IS what this whole game is about.
This Administration just uses the “bringing freedom and democracy to the oppressed people of Iraq” mantra because it sounds good and gets the American people behind what they are doing.
What about the Infrastructure in this country, Chimpy?
August 24th, 2007 at 2:50 pmBy ‘they’ I mean this Administration.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:50 pmWe won’t leave until we have taken control of all the oil resources in the region (not just in Iraq). That IS what this whole game is about.
give me a break, we have not taken a drop of iraqi oil, and havent taken a drop of anyones oil in the mid east without paying for it. because we arent allowed to drill for oil in the US, thats why the supply is low, the prices are high and it aint going to get any better until we either find more oil, develop an alternative, or only drive electric vehicles
August 24th, 2007 at 2:53 pmCheck “View his charts here” above The surge has failed bottoms up
diabolical
August 24th, 2007 at 2:55 pmIt isn’t taking the OIL, it is taking CONTROL of the oil.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:57 pm19 wrong
for every drill hole in America 12 barrels of Oil on average are taken
for every drill hole in Iraq 13 millions barrels of OPil on average are taken
and to steal another nations resources takes a desperate oil thief
August 24th, 2007 at 2:58 pmWow – my last comment got deleted! Way too much censoring going on these days!
August 24th, 2007 at 3:00 pmI notice the “multiple fatality bombings” has decreased, but the number of people killed in multiple fatality bombings has increased. This is telling me that more people are getting killed per bombing, and bombing is getting more efficient.
Is anybody spinning this into a benchmark of success?
August 24th, 2007 at 3:04 pmLiberalismisMentalDisorder,
Don’t forget, you’re more than welcome to provide the correct numbers.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:04 pm+++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++
This is a GREAT SUCCESS as any patriotic American can see.
If you don’t agree, then you aren’t really a patriotic American and need to be re-educated sometime soon.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
August 24th, 2007 at 3:04 pm+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
They want the prices high. How do you think all these oil companies make so damn much money? They don’t want the prices to come down.
Then there is Peak Oil to consider. Whoever controls the oil holds the power.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:06 pmThat is why this news about the North Pole and Russia’s land grab (along with Canada and Denmark) is possibly going to be the next big conflict. There is supposedly more oil and gas under the north pole than in all of the middle east combined.
There is supposedly more oil and gas under the north pole than in all of the middle east combined.
Comment by JG — August 24, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
We really need to get all that ice melted up there.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:08 pmComment by Egreggious — August 24, 2007 @ 3:08 pm
Really.. (said with sarcasm..)
August 24th, 2007 at 3:10 pmI guess with global warming these oil companies must be pretty happy. It makes getting in there to drill a whole lot easier. So much for the future of the planet..
So much for the future of the planet..
Comment by JG — August 24, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
Thankfully the Rapture is right around the corner, probably just a few more Friedman Units.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:13 pmGot blocked again.
If you have the time go to Kevin Drum’s chart link up above and go to the comment from Aug 23 at 7:09pm written by O sama Bin Forgotten.
Not sure if I’m getting blocked because the comment mentions a certain prez candidate or what but I sure hope not because if that’s how it would be with her as prez then I don’t want it.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:16 pmI don’t really understand the system here any more. Over half of what I wrote yesterday was blocked, but today it is working fine. I wasn’t writing anything threatening or offensive.. I don’t get how this works.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:19 pm“if you compare apples to apples, and look at bombings this summer vs. last summer, the average number of fatalities per blast has gone up from 8.04 to 12.84. That’s a huge increase, and suggests that bombs are getting more effective, not less.”
Yeah, surging is really on track to do, well, whatever.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:39 pmAnd you wonder why no one takes you seriously!!!
Comment by Makarios
Isn’t it time for you to enlist? What’s your reason for deferment? Marriage or a cyst on your ass?
August 24th, 2007 at 4:24 pmComment by Jay Randal — August 24, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
What do you plan to do with post 15 when post 10 is eaten by the GSM? This looks like the start of an infinite series! Euler would be proud.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:18 pmNo matter how many troops are sent as part of the surge they will do nothing to curb the civil war violence or force political progress. The policy is flawed because the Joint Chiefs of Staff advised against it. Gen. Casey advised against it. As did Gen. Abizaid. It didn’t work.
August 25th, 2007 at 4:57 am