Iraq: Violence 70% Down Since June

"We seem to be having the same trouble getting numbers out of the official sources that we have always had, and the reporting from Iraq is just as constrained and stage-managed as ever."

No, it's much more contrived and stage-managed than ever. The neoconservatives are attempting to spin this fiasco into a near-victory spoiled by the next administration, in hopes of returning to power and having a positive legacy someday. They will similarly spin the looming recession. Hani, Countezero, and many duped Americans must learn to pay better attention before they will see through this and similar deceptions; the slow learners are forcing the whole class to learn the truth the hard way.
 
Well, thanks for chiming in with your usual conspiracy theories, Hype. We haven't seen you in this thread since the last time you popped up to attack information being reported in the media...
 
You're welcome- It's nice to read your thoughtful words again too, countezero. If we would all question and even attack information reported in the media more often, we'd certainly all be better informed. Or to put it another way, the more we neglect criticism of the media, the more entropy and corruption will always take the initiative there. There's so much money and power to be made through an unquestioned media establishment, that it can become dangerous not only to clarity but also to democracy. American clarity and democracy are presently undergoing a great test.

I don't quite understand your notion of "conspiracy-theory" as you've mentioned it here. Do you really see it as mere and unfounded theory that the neoconservatives who are now disappearing from power have been actively manipulating American public opinion with the complicity of major US media? Surely you've been paying attention enough to have noticed by now that this really has been occurring. That sad story is not just conspiracy theory anymore. It's part of our history now. The deceptions and self-deceptions that got America entangled in Vietnam are better understood now; are not conspiracy theories. Most Americans, like the world at large before us, have come to clearly recognize that analogous media distortions have been key to the inception and perpetuation of this war.
 
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Nor is it any longer just a theory that many Americans remain deep in denial over the neoconservative deception. We see it all the time. countezero is one example of the many who are still desperately clinging to any apparent validation of America's post-9-11 rampage. These victims of disinformation remain trapped in a dysfunctional loop of psychological hand-washing: We can't be wrong... The Surge is working... We can't be wrong... We're turning the corner... We can't be wrong... The nay-sayers are liberal conspiracy-nuts with wild agendas... We can't be wrong- We're the Good Guys. But that isn't reality in Iraq, it never was, and the fundamental dynamics of this misbegotten occupation will always remain.
 
Permanent stability in Iraq is impossible unless the Iranio-Syrian axis be dealt with. If you know ANYTHING about Middle East you should be sure about that.
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You seem to forget that our so-called "ally", Saudi Arabia, is providing the most foreign insurgents and arms in Iraq.

- N
 
True to form, your link is not as rosy as the headline,countezero:

By one revealing measure of security — whether people who fled their home have returned — the gains are still limited. About 20,000 Iraqis have gone back to their Baghdad homes, a fraction of the more than 4 million who fled nationwide, and the 1.4 million people in Baghdad who are still internally displaced, according to a recent Iraqi Red Crescent Society survey.

Iraqis sound uncertain about the future, but defiantly optimistic. Many Baghdad residents seem to be willing themselves to normalcy, ignoring risks and suppressing fears to reclaim their lives. Pushing past boundaries of sect and neighborhood, they said they were often pleasantly surprised and kept going; in other instances, traumatic memories or a dark look from a stranger were enough to tug them back behind closed doors.

...the achievement remains rare. Many Iraqis say they would still rather leave the country than go home. In Baghdad there are far more families like the Nidhals. The father, who would only identify himself as Abu Nebras (father of Nebras), is Sunni; Hanan, his wife, is a Shiite from Najaf, the center of Shiite religious learning in Iraq. They lived for 17 years in Ghazaliya in western Baghdad until four gunmen from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown Sunni extremist group that American intelligence agencies say is led by foreigners, showed up at his door last December.

“My sons were armed and they went away but after that, we knew we had only a few hours,” Abu Nebras said. “We were displaced because I was secular and Al Qaeda didn’t like that.”

They took refuge in the middle-class Palestine Street area in the northeastern part of Baghdad, a relatively stable enclave with an atmosphere of tolerance for their mixed marriage. Now with the situation improving across the city, the Nidhal family longs to return to their former home, but they have no idea when, or if, it will be possible.

...they are trying to enjoy what may be only a temporary respite from violence.
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What headline? I said: "Here's another story to mull..."

Can you read? Or are you in such a hurry to berate me that you no longer bother...
 
countezero: "Can you read? Or are you in such a hurry to berate me that you no longer bother..."

I didn't mean to berate you. I meant to criticise a headline that didn't seem to reflect the content when I read it. Why not mull this this one too, and test the headline:

IRAQ: Fewer Deaths Bring No Reassurance

We're 2 casualties away from the deadliest year for our troops in Iraq to date.

Attacks against U.S. forces are not much less than they were last month, but media coverage has almost disappeared. The resistance is moving fast and changing locations in order to avoid intelligence provided by collaborators. Most Iraqis hate the Americans more than ever after the death and destruction caused by their occupation.
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I didn't write the headline, which didn't stop you from trying to apply it to my "form." That's typical for you...

Here's something from the AP. It's on page 5A in my paper:

"The US military says overall attacks in Iraq have fallen 55 percent since nearly 30,000 additional American troops arrived in Iraq by June, and some areas are experiencing their lowest levels of violence since summer 2005."
 
That's right. Militia knew the Surge was temporary, and have largely sat it out. Ethnic cleansing has also progressed- there is greater sectarian segregation. But this does not mean that the Iraqi civil war has run its course, nor does it mean they are approaching a lasting political settlement under the present Maliki regime. The recent American tactical switch to arming up Sunni militias is likely to ratchet up future sectarian fighting.

This war may appear to some to be going phoney in the short term, but the pressures are clearly building on multiple internal and external fronts, and not abating. Even the relationship between Washington and Maliki's isolated Baghdad government is deteriorating.
 
Yes, thanks. Greg Palast, Rick Rowley, and David Enders do regularly help us see through the major-media smokescreen.
 
This from the Economist:

"But the recent numbers do raise American and even Iraqi hopes. In October, 36 American service people were killed, the lowest toll since March 2006, down from 65 in September and 126 in May. Iraqi civilian deaths are down too. A tally compiled by Iraqi Body Count, a fastidious anti-war lobby group, from press and morgue reports will probably reach around 1,200 deaths: still a terrible toll, but fewer than the 2,500 victims in August and 3,000 in July."
 
This from the Neoconomist:

"In-between casualties, our losses are now down to a resounding zero! We're suddenly down from 5,000+ fatalities and 20,000+ wounded to zero casualties, while Hajji dead-enders keep dropping like flies! We're winning! We can't be wrong! It's the End of History! USA! USA! USA! Mine eyes have seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the Grapes of Wrath are stored, Glory Hallelujah,etc"
 
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