A Surge Against the Surge in Iraq

By sinde on March 26th, 2008

With words like “success” and “victory” a few days behind us, Moqtada al-Sadr, the Shi’ite cleric has proved how wrong we can be.

This past weeked marked the anniversary of the Bush war in Iraq. President Bush proclaimed

“The answers are clear to me,” Bush said in a speech at the Pentagon five years from the day the war began in 2003.

“Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win.”

It seems that Bush is still under the delusion that we may be winning and that “success” in Iraq is a must. Of course, I have never heard anyone define “success” as it relates to the War in Iraq. Does it mean that all the lights are on and that water is running in every home? Does it mean that oil is flowing and the Iraqi’s are self-supporting? Does it mean that the Iraqi government actually gets together and does something? Please define success, Mr. Bush.

Needless to say, Senator John McCain is talking about “success” as well. He has not defined “success” either, but it would be a real stretch of my imagination to think he would… or could. I’m still not sure he knows who is fighting with whom. And, apparently there are days when he is not sure either. No need to replay those videos.

As the present administration and the Republican nominee were celebrating “the surge”, the secure Green Zone came under attack, killing four American soldiers, pushing our total losses of American military in the war on terrorism to 4,003. For all the talk of how well “the surge” is working, Moqtada al-Sadr decided to catch the administration off guard by showing them what a surge looks like.

After the attacks in Baghdad, the “Iraqi insurgent”surge killed nearly 50 people in Basara.

The worst fighting was in Basra, where a health official said 40 people had been killed and 200 wounded. The city, like much of the Shi’ite south, has seen turf wars between Sadr’s followers and those of rival Shi’ite groups.

In the capital, a health official said 14 people were killed and more than 140 wounded in clashes in Sadr City, the Shi’ite slum named for the cleric’s slain father, where the younger Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia have widespread influence.

Now, will someone please define “success”?

With an Easter egg hunt occurring on the White House lawn Bush, Cheney, the administration, and John McCain should be cautioned not to count their chickens…