The Surge and ‘Huge Cash Payments’ to Iraqis
30 November 2007 5:12 pm by Taylor Marsh
They don’t call it Hot
Air for nothing.
Murtha clarifies his statement:
The surge, he said in a statement, “has created a window of opportunity
for the Iraqi government,” but so far the Iraqi government has
“failed to capitalize on the political and diplomatic steps that the
surge was designed to provide.”“The fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily, and
that we must begin an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon
as practicable,” said the chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s
Defense Subcommittee.
There’s an important
post in Harper’s that reader Borg Warner (in Hot
Topics) also points out. Douglas Macgregor, a retired Army colonel
and a decorated Persian Gulf War combat veteran, answers six questions.
1. How big of a change has there been in recent months in the military
situation in Iraq?
The situation on the ground has definitely changed, but not for the reasons
the Bush Administration and its generals claim. The main reasons include cash-based
deals with Sunni leaders and Shiite leader Muqtada al Sadr’s independent
decision earlier this year to temporarily restrain his Mahdi army from attacking
U.S. forces. There have also been improved force protection measures–increased
commitment of emergency ordnance disposal units to clear mines from roads–and
increased use of unmanned combat aerial vehicles. As a result, American casualties
have declined in the last 90 days to the levels experienced in 2006.2. Has the “surge” in troop levels played an important
role here as well?
Not really. Where once there was one country called Iraq, there are now three
emerging states: one Kurdish, one Sunni, and one Shiite. More than two years
of sectarian violence have left districts in and around Baghdad completely
Sunni or completely Shiite, and that has significantly reduced violence in
those districts and resulted in fewer bodies in the streets. This new strategic
reality, combined with huge cash payments to the Sunni insurgent enemy, is
what has given U.S. forces a respite from the chaos of the last four years.
The introduction of a few thousand additional troops into Baghdad’s
neighborhoods was never going to result in any kind of strategic sea change. … ..
Republicans have really taken a beating on Iraq, so what are they now doing?
Trumpeting that the country is in a whole new place because of the surge, while
simultaneously squealing that Democrats allegedly will be sunk because we can’t
handle the good news. It makes me chuckle, because in their haste to try to paint us
desperately unpatriotic they’ve forgotten one not so very small item. The political
solution remains in limbo. But ignoring this, Republicans say Democrats won’t
acknowledge the good military news. What this actually reveals is that the Republicans
don’t understand that you can’t have a country with a military alone, unless
you want it to look like Pakistan. Republicans don’t get the infrastructure
it takes to support any type of democracy. Political hacks put in charge will
do for their vision.
The other side is that their glee in accusing Democrats of not appreciating
what our military has done, which is patently false, reveals a sort of reverse gotcha that benefits Democrats, because we have stated all along that our military is doing the job, though the Iraqi parliament is clearly not. That’s our point. It’s like conservatives doubted the troops ability to quell any part of the violence in the first place.
We openly stated that unless the Iraqi government could get the job done the surge wouldn’t be enough. Guess what? It still isn’t. The political solution is
nowhere.
Unless you call making “huge cash payments” to Iraqis in a sort of gang like payoff system a success.
It’s Bush’s economic plan finally put into action in Iraq.
The reality is that no Democrat I know thought the military would do anything
but succeed in quelling some of the violence if they were put in Iraq in the
proper force make up, as well as given an actual plan.
Why are the conservatives so shocked?
Democrats are not. Our military has done everything asked of them and more…
then more… then more. We’ve said it again and again and again.
The trouble remains at the political end. So even after the military progress
we’re still stuck. Even now you have Lindsay Graham threatening al-Maliki to
get it done or, in no uncertain words, face the consequences, maybe even a coup.
If Republicans have their way, it will be regime change in Iraq, the sequel.
As an aside, James Webb will be on “Meet the Press,” having just returned home from Iraq.
“I appreciate our military’s hard work in improving the security situation in Iraq but we must start taking advantage of these gains by implementing a regional diplomatic effort that enables us to reduce our presence in Iraq and not destabilize the region any further.” – Senator James Webb
Webb is exactly correct.
