January shows signs of backslide in Iraq security gains.
“There are growing signs of backsliding in Iraq,” writes Spencer Ackerman today. According to “Iraq security statistics over the past 13 weeks,” roadside bomb explosions in Baghdad “have ticked up slightly to 131 in January from 129 in December — and the last week of January is not included in these latest figures.” Additionally, “the week ending on January 25 saw seven suicide explosions Iraq-wide, the most since the week ending Dec. 21, 2007.”
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Iraq backsliding? How did this slip out?
January 31st, 2008 at 11:17 amguess that’s what happens when you’re a lameduck. even the media deserts you.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:18 amThis should help McCain immeasurably since he’s so proud to have supported this ’surge’.
Jackass.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:18 amArmy suicides up 20 percent in 2007
The report also showed an increase in the number of attempted suicides and self-injuries — some 2,100 in 2007 compared to less than 1,500 the previous year and less than 500 in 2002.
The total of 121 suicides last year, if all are confirmed, would be more than double the 52 reported in 2001, before the September 11 attacks prompted the Bush administration to launch its counter-terror war.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:19 amThis will be largely ignored by the wingnut talking heads. We won’t hear from them again on this subject for another month — and that’s only if February (a shorter month) has numbers better than January.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:22 amI think the storyline is being shaped so that the media looks at the mess that the future President is going to have to deal with (without, of course, blaming the current President), and who is better at getting us out of the mess, etc. etc.
And then, down the road, as the new President struggles to extricate the US from the mess, the media can then point at his or her failure as indications that they’re not really Presidential enough…
January 31st, 2008 at 11:26 amMy friends…..we WILL have victory my friends because I am saying so. My friends if we have to stay a jillion years my friends it we will see victory….My friends…
-John McCain’s Sphincter
January 31st, 2008 at 11:27 amIraq is an example of Bush’s failed leadership. As we approach the fifth year of the Iraqi occupation Bush has yet to convince America to give a sh*t about it. The only ones asked to sacrifice are the servicemen and their families–everyone else was asked to shop.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:28 amshit going to hit fan in one month from now _ You watch
January 31st, 2008 at 11:30 amIraq is an example of Bush’s failed leadership. As we approach the fifth year of the Iraqi occupation Bush has yet to convince America to give a sh*t about it. The only ones asked to sacrifice are the servicemen and their families–everyone else was asked to shop.
Comment by Above the Clouds — January 31, 2008 @ 11:28 am
The only thing I give a shit about Iraq for , is that our military is still in it.
We do not belong there , it is as simple as that.
That is the biggest sign of Chimpy’s failed leadership.
Well that , and sitting on his stupid ass for 7 full minutes without a clue after being informed that the country was under attack……
January 31st, 2008 at 11:32 amI guess that means we have turned the corner in making progress in Iraq. This means they are getting desparate.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:36 amDid everyone catch Mike Huckleberry spewing crap last night on Iraq ?
“We need to leave Iraq with honor” …….
How the hell do you propose to do that ?
Drop Chimpy in the middle of Baghdad so he can be drop-kicked by the entire populace ?
We INVADED ILLEGALLY ; there is no “honor” in that.
Everyone in the garbage Chimpy administration , past and present , should be arrested and shipped off to Iraq and be made to apologize to each and every Iraqi citizen ………
January 31st, 2008 at 11:48 amThe only real gains are the Pentagon’s ability to hide the truth from the American people; propaganda success.
A∞Ω
January 31st, 2008 at 11:59 amWhat is the point in comparing a months when 130 suicide bombs went off, to a month when 140 went off. This is an illegal war, created to re-distribute wealth to the richest people in the world. Can we go home now please?
January 31st, 2008 at 12:17 pmOK, well, I won’t ignore it. I think we’ll have to see if there’s a trend in the wrong direction security-wise; still, look at that chart TP links to and observe the numbers on Baghdad security - six suicide explosions since Nov. 2, a major decline from what those numbers used to look like; also, civilian and sectarian killings are way down.
Another interesting story, from the Ashura tradition that is usually marked by violence:
I think the trends in Iraq are really, really positive. I know the standard arguments in rebuttal - that political progress isn’t being made - but I think we have to be patient. While gains are made locally, it will take a while for the necessary national reconciliation. But things would be a lot worse if we withdraw and leave a security vacuum now.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:42 pmComment by thirdparty
Got Kool Aid?
January 31st, 2008 at 12:44 pmSo now the insurgents are surging? Let’s go surging now, everybody’s learnin’ how, come on and safari with me.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:02 pmendless failed war…
January 31st, 2008 at 3:10 pm“While gains are made locally, it will take a while for the necessary national reconciliation. But things would be a lot worse if we withdraw and leave a security vacuum now.”
Comment by thirdparty
And could you tell us, roughly, how many years you’ll wait before admitting it was a mistake to hold on?
Take your time, I wouldn’t want to rush you, and have an intellectual vacuum keep you from answering.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:10 pmUS military fatalities are up, too.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:19 pmObviously, there’s no arbitrary number of years I could tell you. If we begin to slip back to the way things were in 2006 and lose the gains we’ve made, then I would suggest we should redeploy our troops since all purpose and direction would be lost. We would have to deal with the consequences, and it would get really ugly, but at that point it would be clear that Iraq needs to sort itself out on its own.
However, right now we have a direction. The new strategy has brought improvements on the security level, as much as you guys like to deny it. CLCs are working with the US military to beat back extremism, local economies are growing, provincial reconstruction efforts are establishing an infrastructure on which an Iraqi state can rely, and, if implemented wisely, the new law on de-Baathification will represent a step forward. (The law, let’s be fair, is pretty vague, although it does create a judicial check. I asked Juan Cole and he agreed with me that the implementation will be what matters. I think it could go either way.)
You all want to pull out now, which I find odd since now is the time when we clearly need our troops there to keep a reasonable state of security. I challenge anyone to suggest that security, even in January, is worse than it was prior to mid-2007, when the surge fully kicked in.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:47 am