Peace Lines

I am getting sick and tired of hearing people say the surge is working in Iraq because the "enemy" is hitting hard back.

Or that the fact that U.S. casualties has risen, in many cases above that of the Iraqi Army, makes the case that the War is being won and the new strategy has been successful.

This one gets me mad: The surge is working and the War is being won because the number of mutilated corpses has dropped from a flood to a stream. And most officers one hears from in the news say it is more because the militias have stood down rather than from the modest increase of U.S. troops in Baghdad.

I thought the objective of the surge was to give the Iraqi government breathing space to start the reconcialation process. If that is the case, where has been the Iraqi goverment on this score? The parliament rarely meets with a quorum. They pass no meaningful legislation. None of the so called benchmarks have been met, not that I even know what they are, since they are never discussed publicly.

I was watching on TV the other day and Ian Paisley, the leader of the Protestants in Northern Ireland, and Gerry Adams, the leader of the Catholics, can barely even have a civil exchange after over 30 years of fighting and bloodshed. And the issue being discussed was the formation of a unity government to replace British rule. Sound familiar.

Another thing that sounds familiar are these walls being built around neighborhoods to separate Baghdadis. They call these "peace lines." These walls went up in the 1970's and yet still remain. Seperate to bring together. Makes sense.

Now think of the current situation in Iraq. The same amount of civilians killed in the Troubles equals the monthly death toll for Iraqis.

So all these experts on foreign affairs and retired military guys keep saying give this surge a couple months to work and bring the parties together. What world have they been living in? So, in the fall, the Sunnis and Shias and Kurds will all come to a safe and secure Baghdad and shake hands and end a Civil War that is killing on average 1000-2000 innocent Iraqis a month? And all these people have been killed even with the additional troops in Iraq? Is that what they are saying?


Furthermore, all these experts say that the surge is supposed to bring back some semblance of normalcy to Iraq. I was wondering what reality would they base that normalcy on? Life under Saddam? Life in Baghdad pre Baath party rule? The long ago days of the Salah al-Din?

Poor Sancho