by Damozel | The declarations by various politicians (Bush, Lieberman, McCain) and media pundits of "success" in Iraq seem to be rebutted by this. "We're certainly not dancing in the end zone or anything like that," declares General Petraeus on NBC .
We think we won’t know that we’ve reached a turning point until we’re six months past it. We have repeatedly said that there is no lights at the end of the tunnel that we’re seeing. We’re certainly not dancing in the end zone or anything like that.
And this report at MSNBC suggests that we've got miles to go before we sleep. Diplomat Ryan Crocker summed up the situation in Iraq to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as follows:
Iraq is a nation gripped by fear and struggling to meet security and political goals by September, U.S. officials cautioned from Baghdad on Thursday, dashing hopes in Congress that the country might turn a corner this summer.
They said not to expect a solid judgment on the U.S. troop buildup until November.
"If there is one word, I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq -- on the streets, in the countryside, in the neighborhoods and at the national level -- that word would be 'fear,"' Ryan Crocker, the top U.S. diplomat, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"For Iraq to move forward at any level, that fear is going to have to be replaced with some level of trust and confidence and that is what the effort at the national level is about," he added, speaking by video link from Baghdad.
The Iraqis are gripped by fear? No wonder.
Joe Biden, never one to hold tactfully back, says Petraeus (and Bush) were "dead flat wrong" about Iraq, and that Dems must keep pushing for a pullout date. In the meantime,Lieberman, Bush, and McCain should probably stop "dancing in the end zone." Clearly, we're not there yet.
Memeorandum here: See The Carpetbagger Report, Hullabaloo, The Reaction, Daily Kos, Firedoglake and Hot Air
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New Study Estimates 151,000 Iraqis Died from Violence (2003-2006)
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