Is the surge really working? Why do I ask? Because all the usual suspects are saying "the surge is working!" so loudly. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, several FOXBots and others are on a continuous loop about how fabulously things are going in Iraq, and how positive the "Petraeus Report" is going to be, as if they already know.
The "boy who cried wolf" syndrome is just too obvious. Most of the people touting success in Iraq are the very people who have been wrong every step of the way. They also have a vested interest in having the public at least believe a rosy picture about Iraq. As our President is famous for saying, "You've got to repeat things over and over and again, for the truth to sink in. You've gotta catapult the propaganda."
[Excerpt]
Experts Doubt Drop In Violence in Iraq
The U.S. military's claim that violence has decreased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts within and outside the government, who contend that some of the underlying statistics are questionable and selectively ignore negative trends.
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. [snip]
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. . .
Read on at: WashingtonPost.com
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