Iraq

by tristero

The situation in Iraq has definitely improved, from unspeakably ghastly merely to ghastly:

Small scale bombings and shootings persist in the capital — each a reminder that the war is not over and that Baghdad remains a place where no trip is routine and residents are still guided by precautions.

Most won’t drive at night. Many try to avoid heavily clogged streets, remembering that suicide bombers and other attackers intent on killing large numbers of civilians favor traffic jams or congested areas.

Baghdad is the key to stability in Iraq as the center of government and as a potential symbol of reconciliation among rival groups. This flagship role, however, also makes it coveted ground for militias and insurgents fighting efforts to fully restore order.

The U.S. military warns consistently that the security gains, though dramatic, are not irreversible and that the relative calm is fragile….

U.S. and Iraqi officials do not routinely release figures on the number of bombs that explode each month in Baghdad, citing security.
According to Iraqi police, however, at least five small bombs explode on average each month in the area where the bombing occurred Tuesday: near the intersection on the eastern side of the Tigris River. Less than two weeks ago, a pair of bombs exploded almost simultaneously near the intersection, killing three civilians.

Nevertheless, attacks throughout Iraq are at their lowest levels in four years, according to the U.S. military.

August was one of the least deadly months since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Still, at least 360 civilians were killed and more than 470 wounded in violence throughout the country, according to an Associated Press count.
In comparison, nearly five times as many civilians died violently during the same month last year, according to the AP tally.

Much of the credit for the drop in violence goes to the U.S. troop buildup of 2007, a cease-fire by the main Shiite militia and a Sunni Arab revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq.

With more soldiers in Iraq, the U.S. military was able to clear villages just outside the capital which extremists had used to rig deadly truck bombs which could claim scores of lives in a single blast.
Iraqi soldiers and police maintain checkpoints around the city, checking for explosives and vehicle bombs.

With that, police say militants are now resorting to low-tech explosives, which kill fewer people but are often more difficult to detect because they use pressure plates or other simple trigger devices.

That is small comfort, however, to the families mourning the latest victims.

Three hundred sixty civilians killed in one month. Five times less than it was a year ago.

Stripped of Republican spin and described realistically, this means that conditions in Iraq were so incredibly violent a year ago that they simply defy the imagination of any of us who haven’t lived there. Now, with the sacrifice of more American lives and countless billions of dollars later, the situation is what would be described just about anywhere else as verging on total anarchy.

In April, 2007, when things were really awful, that brave, brave soldier, St. John McCain, drawing on his bottomless depths of courageous courage-osity… hey did you know once upon a time he actually demonstrated some real courage? That was a looooooong time ago, my friends, but yes, he behaved with courage. He’ll be the first to tell you. Anyway….

In April, 2007, brave John McCain strolled through a Baghdad market, telling a reporter that this was proof you could “walk freely” around parts of Baghdad. Not mentioned was the minor proviso you needed the protection of 100 soldiers, 3 Blackhawks, and 2 Apache gunships to walk freely around parts of Baghdad.

Today, things are so improved, I’m sure St. John could take that very same stroll with only 99 soldiers, 3 Blackhawks and 2 Apache gunships.*

By the way, how much did St. John McCain’s little stunt cost the American taxpayer? Wouldn’t that huge palette of money been better spent on scholarships for veterans which McCain refuses not only to support but even to discuss?

h/t Juan Cole

*UPDATE: And don’t be surprised if McCain takes time off these next months to pay a visit to the soldiers in Iraq. What a photo op that would make!