Bush’S ‘Fuzzy Math’ Hides The Real Iraq

While denials about Iraqi violence may work for short-term political gain, it is not good policy. Bush’s ‘Fuzzy Math’ Hides The Real IraqBy Cliff Montgomery – Dec. 22nd, 2007Republicans love echoing the recent Bush Administration claims about Iraq: That this year’s troops “surge” has made all the difference in that war-torn nation; that U.S. numbers prove that violence is down there; and that Bush’s “plan” for Iraq may have had a shaky start, but now is a rousing success.But these simply are more lies from the neo-conservatives who have all but taken over the Republican Party. And, as the U.S. corporate media did during the lead-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003, it has accepted these empty claims without bothering to check the facts for themselves.One of the most damning retorts to these falsehoods was the Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit on Iraq, released in September.”While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced,” stated a late draft of the study quoted by The Washington Post in August. Though the GAO agreed there recently has been fewer attacks targeting U.S. troops, it pointed out that attacks on Iraqi civilians were unchanged.The December 2006 report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group likewise identified a “significant underreporting of violence” by Bush Administration officials, adding that “a murder of an Iraqi is not necessarily counted as an attack.””If [the Bush White House] cannot determine the sources of a sectarian attack, that assault does not make it into the data base,” the study tellingly noted.The report concluded that “good policy is difficult to make when information is systematically collected in a way that minimizes its discrepancy with policy goals.”While denials and half-truths about Iraqi violence may work for short-term political gain as America slides into an election year, it does not make for “good policy.”Alright, but the area around Baghdad is more secure–at least this is what we’re told. Bush Administration assertions of reduced violence in that region appear to hinge on a single statistic: U.S. figures revealed an eventual decline of sectarian fighting in Baghdad from December 2006 to August 2007.But Bush conveniently fails to admit that this violence only declined after the areas had been “cleansed” by sectarian militias. Hence the religious character of several Baghdad neighborhoods have changed from a primarily Sunni Muslim to a majority Shi’ite Muslim population.And the Bush White House rarely mentions that since the beginning of the U.S. troop surge, Iraq also has seen a sharp rise in the number of civilians forced to become refugees.The inevitable result of a successful ethnic cleansing and of so many choosing ‘flight’ over ‘fight’ in 2007 is a marked reduction of violence. Thus a steep decrease in violence throughout the Baghdad area eventually would have occurred even if Bush’s U.S. troop “surge” had never happened.But clearly, that doesn’t mean things are going well there.Among Iraq’s other problems never honestly addressed by the Bush Administration is the expanding civil war of competing radical Islamist groups in the country’s south.Shi’ite Islamist political groups are enforcing an extremist Islamic rule in Iraq’s oil-rich southern provinces and employing their private armies to spread terror in the region, say tribal Shi’ite leaders.The tribal heads spoke to Reuters around mid-October on condition of anonymity, citing a fear of assassination if their identities or even their tribal regions were made public.”Fear rules the streets now,” one sheikh told Reuters.”We cannot speak our minds, people are not allowed to oppose them. They would immediately disappear or get killed. The evidence of that is I am talking about it but cannot use my name,” he reasonably pointed out.And who better knows the true state of violence in Iraq than the Iraqis themselves? Two regional  governors and a chief of police were killed by roadside bomb blasts in August, the apparent  victims of a growing Shi’ite civil war in the south, the region holding most of Iraq’s oil reserves.Aides working for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shi’ite religious leader, also have been murdered.But the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) does not track most violence within sects, including Shi’ite-on-Shi’ite attacks. Therefore many–if not most–casualties of this civil war are not counted in U.S. reports.The sheikhs also told Reuters that the spreading Islamist religious tyranny allows only religious music to be heard in public places, and forbids dancing as well as alcohol use. And of course, women now are being humiliated and harassed for wearing “inappropriate” clothing.These simple facts are never discussed by George W. Bush or his neo-conservative pals as they attempt to sell their current ‘success’ in the war-torn country. But those clear truths reveal the real Iraq.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!