by D. Cupples | The week before the New Year is all about counting: things like days, calories, credit-card tallies. Author and President of the Global Americana Institute Juan Cole decided to count myths. Below is a sampling of Cole's list of the top 10 myths of 2007 (listed from 10 to 1).
Myth #7: Iran was supplying explosively formed projectiles (a deadly form of roadside bomb) to Salafi Jihadi (radical Sunni) guerrilla groups in Iraq. Fact: Iran has not been proved to have sent weapons to any Iraqi guerrillas at all. It certainly would not send weapons to those who have a raging hostility toward Shiites. (Iran may have supplied war materiel to its client, the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq (ISCI), which was then sold off from warehouses because of graft, going on the arms market and being bought by guerrillas and militiamen.
Myth #6: "The US overthrow of the Baath regime and military occupation of Iraq has helped liberate Iraqi women. Fact: Iraqi women have suffered significant reversals of status, ability to circulate freely, and economic situation under the Bush administration."
Myth #2: "Iraq has been 'calm' in fall of 2007 and the Iraqi public, despite some grumbling, is not eager for the US to depart. Fact: in the past 6 weeks, there have been an average of 600 attacks a month, or 20 a day, which has held steady since the beginning of November. About 600 civilians are being killed in direct political violence per month, but that number excludes deaths of soldiers and police. Across the board, Iraqis believe that their conflicts are mainly caused by the US military presence and they are eager for it to end." (Links in original)
Click here to see the rest of Cole's list. Memeorandum has other bloggers' commentary.
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* Administration Ignored Warnings about Security Contractors in Iraq
* "Awakening Groups" in Iraq: a Strategy Doomed to Fail?
* Pattern: Wasted Tax Dollars in Mid-East and at Home
* Under the Rug: Whatever happened to the 190,000 Missing Weapons?
* $1 Billion More in Missing Military Hardware
* More Confusing Statements about Iraq
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