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Sunday, March 30, 2008

Violence Surges in Iraq

Violence Surges in Iraq

Josh Aldridge

The nine-month ceasefire in Iraq has ended with the decision by Prime Minister at Nouri al-Maliki to send 15,000 troops and policemen into Basra. The violence which broke out when the troops clashed with Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army has spread to the "streets in Kut, Hilla, Amara, Kerbala, Nasiriyah, and Diwaniya, as well as into Sadr City in Baghdad, where militiamen have been raining rockets and mortars on the Green Zone".

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Friday, March 21, 2008

Is The Surge Collapsing?

Is The Surge Collapsing?

Josh Aldridge

If we talk strictly numbers of casualties as a means to measure the success of the conflict in Iraq, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, the "Surge" is working. In fact, right now is the lowest U.S. casualty rate since the war started. The lowest ever. This fact does not mean that our citizens are not dying everyday. So far during the month of March, 20 soldiers have been killed, 29 in February and 40 in January. These statistical trend also fares well for the Iraqi Security Forces. They have been experiencing the same kind of gradual decline in causalities, down to 674 troops down from 1,674 last August. This is real progress, no one can deny the statistical weight these numbers bare on the debate.

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Paying Insurgents Not to Fight

Paying Insurgents Not to Fight

Clark Anderson

According to Paul Roberts of Counterpunch, the real purpose of "the surge" was to distract the American people from a different tactic, paying the Sunnis not to attack Americans. The Bush Administration has been claiming for many years now that we are defending Iraqis from terrorists "and other extremists".

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