Beware the September Sleight of Hand

According to embedded CNN reporter Michael Ware, recent progress in Iraq is being achieved at the expense of long term political solvency. Ware says that the Bush administration should come clean with how they are achieving some short term military progress. Apparently the U.S. military is now cutting deals with Sunni insurgents to help eliminate Al Qaeda’s presence in Iraq. These are the same Sunni insurgents who also oppose the current Shi'a lead Iraq government. The U.S. military’s partnering with Sunni insurgents is expectedly angering the Iraqi government and jeopardizing future prospects for political reconciliation.

Nevertheless, September will soon arrive, and the Bush administration will put on their full court press. You can expect the Republican noise machine to be kicked in to full speed as well. The effort will be made to place the complex and nuanced Iraq mess into a one dimensional metric. The claim will be made that since violence is down slightly, the surge is working and progress is being made. However, we cannot judge progress in Iraq on the basis of one military metric. For a more informed and accurate assessment of what is going on in Iraq, check out Brian Fishman and Fawaz Gerges at Bill Moyers Journal.