Carnage, Petreaus, and a Secret Report
06 September 2007 8:15 am by Taylor Marsh
Carnage, Petraeus, and a Secret Report
Here we go again, only this time it’s worse. Not only is the Bush administration
picking and choosing how to selectively weigh violence indicators in Iraq, but
from the report this morning in the Washington Post it’s obvious that
General Petraeus has decided to go along. “Qualifiers” matter, but evidently the general, with help from the White House, has made a calculated decision to leave those out. This is extremely alarming, as well
as terribly disappointing. It’s reminiscent of Colin Powell standing up at the
United Nations, something most of us will never forget. The independence of
the U.S. military from the political arm of our government is very important. It’s why Goldwater-Nichols was passed, which I’ve written about a lot.
Now I study these things so I know a top general isn’t going to go against
his commander in chief, but what Petraeus is seemingly willing to do for Bush
is not only unethical, but a sign he is willing to betray the troops he leads, as well as shade the truth from the public. In a republic such as ours this is deadly.
Reductions in violence form the centerpiece of the Bush administration’s
claim that its war strategy is working. In congressional testimony Monday,
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected to
cite a 75 percent decrease in sectarian attacks. According to senior U.S.
military officials in Baghdad, overall attacks in Iraq were down to 960 a
week in August, compared with 1,700 a week in June, and civilian casualties
had fallen 17 percent between December 2006 and last month. Unofficial Iraqi
figures show a similar decrease.
If only this were the truth and not statistics squeezed through the strainer
of disbelief.
Others who have looked at the full range of U.S. government statistics on
violence, however, accuse the military of cherry-picking positive indicators
and caution that the numbers — most of which are classified — are often
confusing and contradictory. “Let’s just say that there are several different
sources within the administration on violence, and those sources do not agree,”
Comptroller General David Walker told Congress on Tuesday in releasing a new
Government Accountability Office report on Iraq.(snip)
In a letter last week to the leadership of both parties, a group of influential
academics and former Clinton administration officials called on Congress to
examine “the exact nature and methodology that is being used to track
the security situation in Iraq and specifically the assertions that sectarian
violence is down.”The controversy centers as much on what is counted — attacks on civilians
vs. attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops, numbers of attacks vs. numbers of casualties,
sectarian vs. intra-sect battles, daily numbers vs. monthly averages — as
on the numbers themselves.The military stopped releasing statistics on civilian deaths in late 2005,
saying the news media were taking them out of context. … ..
Ah yes, “the full range of U.S. government statistics on violence.”
Selling the war at this point requires skills of a used car salesman. That’s
George W. Bush, a man willing to say and do anything for legacy. Believe it
or not, it actually gets worse from here.
“My assessment is that because of the number and breadth of
parties boycotting the cabinet, the Iraqi government is in essential collapse,”
Kenneth Katzman, the author of the report, said. “That argues against
any real prospects for political reconciliation.”
