The Daily Background

So is the President’s escalation in Iraq working? Iraq Slogger provides this information today:

Suicide attacks and car bombings have soared 30 percent in Iraq since the start of a security crackdown in Baghdad last month, while attackers have become more brutal in their choice of methods, a U.S. General said at the Pentagon Friday.

Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations in the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, told a press conference that “high profile attacks” involving suicide vests and car bombs were on the rise, and pointed to the increasing use of chlorine bombs by Sunni extremists.
[…]
While attacks targeting coalition forces were up, Barbero said the security crackdown had led to 30 percent fewer civilian deaths in Iraq and 50 percent fewer in Baghdad compared to the six weeks preceding the crackdown.

It’s pretty clear that it’s a mixed bag: the sheer number of attacks is up, while the casualties are down. There seems to be a shift in tactics perhaps geared towards “higher profile” attacks and newer types of attacks such as using chlorine gas (reports say chlorine has been used eight times recently). What is abundantly clear however is that anybody who is saying flat-out that “the surge is working” or that “the surge is a success” is not being honest.

Update: Stephen Colbert, this includes you.

Filed under: Iraq Related, Z-TDB Blog