The Horror Of Iraq

The death toll in that horrific Yazidi village bombing now approaches 500, another example of how the violence in Iraq continues almost unabated. McClatchy bravely spoke the truth the other day:

Despite U.S. claims that violence is down in the Iraqi capital, U.S. military officers are offering a bleak picture of Iraq’s future, saying they’ve yet to see any signs of reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite Muslims despite the drop in violence.

Without reconciliation, the military officers say, any decline in violence will be temporary and bloodshed could return to previous levels as soon as the U.S. military cuts back its campaign against insurgent attacks [...]

And while top U.S. officials insist that 50 percent of the capital is now under effective U.S. or government control, compared with 8 percent in February, statistics indicate that the improvement in violence is at best mixed.

The bombing continues, even in Baghdad despite assurances to the contrary. Our "surging" and focus on training Iraqi forces has done nothing but teach each side how to kill one another. Despite trying to lay the blame on Al Qaeda in Iraq, and Iran (and by proxy, gin up a new war), that's misplaced. The problem is the complete inattention to a political solution, and attempts at short-term military victories which do nothing but militarize the various factions. Sometimes we've done it unintentionally by allowing US-bought guns to get into the hands of extremists, or by watching mute as Italian gunrunners supply the Interior Ministry and its militia, but really our LEGAL handouts of weapons and logistical aid achieves the same purpose.

Today in Iraq the political "leadership" tried to pull a con job by saying that a "new political alliance" had been forged between Shiites and Kurds, when it's the exact same political alliance that had already been in place, MINUS Muqtada al-Sadr's forces and the secular Allawi list.

In actuality, any hope at reconciliation has failed.

Lost in the reporting of the unbelievable horrific terrorist attack in northern Iraq is a bit of a political bombshell. Al-Arabiya is reporting that the emergency political summit of Iraq's leaders has failed to produce even nominal political reconciliation. This is a devastating outcome for the Maliki government and for those Americans who hoped to have some political progress to show in the upcoming Crocker/Petraeus report. There's no other way to spin this: this summit was billed as the last chance, and it has failed.

Iraqis don't want a political reconciliation, they don't want the kind of pro-corporate laws stealing their natural resources that the US is trying to shove down their throats, and they don't want another second of this occupation.

And what's more, neither do the American people, and they don't trust the garbage that the White House is trying to put on their plates and call a nutritious dinner:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A majority of Americans don't trust the upcoming report by the Army's top commander in Iraq on the progress of the war and even if they did, it wouldn't change their mind, according to a new poll.

Gen. David Petraeus confers with officers in Iraq in July. His progress report on the war is due next month.

President Bush frequently has asked Congress -- and the American people -- to withhold judgment on his so-called troop surge in Iraq until Gen. David Petraeus, the commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, issue their progress report in September.

But according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Thursday, 53 percent of people polled said they suspect that the military assessment of the situation will try to make it sound better than it actually is. Forty-three percent said they do trust the report.

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said he doesn't think the mistrust is directed at Petreaus as much as it is what he represents.

Holland said, "I suspect most people are hearing the words 'general' and 'Iraq' and that's what they're basing their opinion on."

He added, "It does seem to indicate that anyone associated with the Bush administration may be a less than credible messenger for the message that there is progress being made in Iraq."

It's time to leave Iraq, right now. Our leaving won't cause any more chaos than what's already there; in fact, we're fueling much of the violence. A focus on peace and reconciliation over occupation is the only hope to salvage anything out of this mess that should never have been started. We need to end it. Today.