No subject

ening Council=E2=80=9D Iraqis $300 a month not to fight against U.S. forces=
. Al Jazeera=E2=80=99s military analysts estimated that as many as 100,000 =
Awakening fighters in Iraq were responsible =E2=80=9Cfor the marked reducti=
on in violence in the country.=E2=80=9D=20

By late 2008, thanks to increased oil sales, reported Al Jazeera, =E2=80=9C=
The Iraqi government started paying the salaries of about 54,000 Awakening =
fighters at 60 locations in Baghdad on Monday.=E2=80=9D=20

In other words, Bush was paying unknown quantities of U.S. taxpayers=E2=80=
=99 money to Iraqis in return for them not attacking U.S. forces. So, while=
 the infusion of more U.S. troops played some role in cutting down violence=
, it didn=E2=80=99t compete with the part played by death squads. Bob Woodw=
ard in The War Within (Simon & Schuster, 2008) suggests that by creating Ir=
aqi =E2=80=9CDeath Squads=E2=80=9D the Pentagon also helped reduce fighting=
 in Iraq. A =E2=80=9CTop Secret=E2=80=9D memo, according to Woodward, impli=
es that U.S. forces targeted certain Sunni groups for systematic assassinat=
ion. This operation, like the CIA=E2=80=99s Phoenix Program in Vietnam, cal=
led for killing those who refused to =E2=80=9Creconcile=E2=80=9D to U.S. re=
ason; they wouldn=E2=80=99t even take bribes.=20

The surge fans, however, ignored such minor details. They focus on the brig=
ht side. Iraq now sells 2 million barrels of oil per day! Tie that marketin=
g fact to 2 million Iraqis who have fled their homes and remain displaced i=
nside the country; or the 3 plus millions who felt forced to leave their un=
balanced country. They don=E2=80=99t tie together?=20

Surgites like Pollack and Beinart say, like Bush, that the $610 billion spe=
nt on the war has built a =E2=80=9Cdemocracy=E2=80=9D in the region. Indeed=
, by knocking off Saddam, the United States opened to the entire Arab world=
 the road to democratic reform. And pigs will fly!=20

Thus far, thousands of Iraqi professors, scientists, and doctors have been =
assassinated. Bush=E2=80=99s rescue of Iraq also cost the lives of some 350=
 journalists. Tens of thousands of prisoners remain in detention camps and,=
 according to a UN report, =E2=80=9Cthe detention of children in adult dete=
ntion centers violates U.S. obligations under the UN Convention on the Righ=
ts of the Child, as well as accepted international human rights norms.=E2=
=80=9D (AP, May 19, 2008)=20

In September 2002, I visited Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. Most Iraqis en=
joyed electricity, running water and functional sewage -- even though the i=
mpact of multilateral sanctions and continuous air strikes throughout the 1=
990s by U.S. and British war planes kept destroying parts of the already ma=
ngled post 1991 War infrastructure.=20

After the surge=E2=80=99s success, Iraqis average 3 hours of electricity da=
ily; many water and sewage systems remain un-repaired. By 2008, Iraqis suff=
ered some 10,000 cases of cholera -- the average over the last five years. =
By August 2007, Iraqis still suffered some 25 car bombs per month. (Kevin D=
rum, Washington Monthly, August 24, 2007)=20

The surge did succeed in reducing Iraq war coverage by some 60%, according =
to the NY Times. (=E2=80=9CWith Success of Surge, NY Times=E2=80=99 Iraq Wa=
r Coverage Drops to All-Time Low,=E2=80=9D Oct. 21, 2008) Reduced violence =
equals loss of media interest.=20

If not for Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert, and occasional articles by Seymo=
ur Hersh in the New Yorker, and an exceptional case like Karen de Young and=
 a few others, the public would have little access to the facts of war. The=
 media gives the war mongers lots of space to promote the deadly events in =
which few of them ever fight. But they do cheer for the troops -- almost li=
ke fans at a ballgame.=20

Saul Landau, an Institute for Policy Studies fellow, author of A BUSH AND B=
OTOX WORLD=20