Is the Surge "So Far, So Good" or "So Far, SNAFU"?

The Wash Times reports, you decide: Is the Surge working in Iraq?:

"I think that the way I would characterize it is 'so far, so good,' " [Defense Secretary Robert] Gates said yesterday during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation." "It's very early. … But I would say that the Iraqis are meeting the commitments that they have made to us, that they have made the appointments, the troops that they have promised are showing up."…

[Rep. John] Murtha [D-Pa.] also disputed reports of cooperation by Iraqi security forces. "There's only 50 percent of them showing up. That's the problem. They said 86 percent in the first couple weeks of this redeployment, and now it's only 50 percent of them showing up."

More here.

The AP reports, via Forbes, that "violence has receded slightly" in Baghdad. Read about that and recent attacks here.

Comments

[Guy Montag]

"So Far, SNAFU"?

That was on a sign carried by one of the vastly outnumbered "war protestors" on Saturday on the DC Mall.

[JKP]

I'd feel better about going with either one of those predictions if they came from an interview with soldiers in the field. Fuckers in DC don't know jack.

[Guy Montag]

Interviewing Murtha is like asking Jane Fonda, well, anything.

[Abdul]

One problem I've notice is there's a lack of reliable metrics in this article and many articles on the surge. If the surge had a goal or series of goals, there's some way to measure the success with empirical evidence rather than getting the Sec Def's, National Security Adviser's and John Murtha's feelings on the issue. Are attacks on civilians more or less frequent now? Are the attacks occurring outside or inside surge areas? Are there more arrests/kills of insurgents? Without the basic data, how can anyone make a decision.

[joe]

Insurgents can read our intentions and wait us out if we announce a withdrawal date.

They cannot, however, read our intentions and wait us out if we announce a "surge" of limited duration. I know this, because the people who told me we were winning in 2005 told me.

Hey, Guy, opinion on the war is up to 2:1 against, and trending upwards.

[Thomas Paine\'s Goiter]

I believe Murtha as much as I believe Bush.

[Jim Henley]

Readers of the better blogs already know that insurgent attack tempo declines somewhat every spring relative to the previous winter and impending summer-fall pace.

[Guy Montag]

Hey, Guy, opinion on the war is up to 2:1 against, and trending upwards.

Yea, that's what I thought when I arrived at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday when I saw a 4 to 1 ratio of Gathering of Eagles folks opposing your people.

'If only the WaPo and CNN took a poll here it would come out 2:1 against the war.'

[punk-bitch]

Did you ever get the impression that the $500 billion War in Iraq was created as a diversion from the real disaster?

Me neither. 😉

[joe]

Guy,

It must be nice not to have to worry about anything except your feelings.

For those of a more reality-based bent, here is some objective data.

http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm

[joe]

Really, how could the American public oppose the Iraq War by a 2:1 margin? Guy Montage doesn't know a single person who opposed the Iraq War.

[Andyraz]

By far my favorite article this weekend was the article on CNN citing a poll that said confidence in the war has dropped from above 80 percent to about 33 percent, but that the number of Americans who said they worry about the conflict is still the same (at roughly 55 percent).

[Guy Montag]

joe,

You are talking to and responding to yourself again.

[joe]

Guy,

I wouldn't want to take credit for comment asserting that most Americans support the Iraq War, either.

But, sadly, that actually was you who posted that.

[Guy Montag]

joe,

Keep repeating your lies and keep believing them. You can't discuss anything without fabrication and this exchange is no different.

[Rhywun]

Nice pissing match, guys. That said, joe wins for posting some reasonably factual looking data as opposed to personal anecdotes.

[Guy Montag]

If it refutes your preconceived notion it is a "personal anecdote" and if it reenforces your notion it is an "eye witness account".

Now, for joe misrepresenting what I said in a discussion with himself, that is just a fabrication. If you prefer fabrications, go right ahead. It is a free country in some parts.

[Guy Montag]

Photos of an empty rally. You have already seen the MSM version.

[Rhywun]

Guy, go ahead and believe that the attendance of one rally is an accurate representation of the country's opinion on the matter if it makes you feel better. I'll continue paying more attention to "fabricated" polls.

[Guy Montag]

Yes, I do have my doubts about the accuracy of your polls. If they were as true as you say we would have something else behind them, like some actual legeslation instead of a bunch of empty blather. Just like those exit polls that "prove" Al Gore and John F. Kerry were robbed in their elections, I doubt their accuracy.

Anybody can word a poll to make the outcome that they like.

Back to the item at hand, I expressed doubt and then joe made things up to argue against, like my never having met a person against the war. Yes, that is made up and false too (sorry Dan Rather).

I certainly do run into a lot more people in support of the war than any of these polls show and I saw a lot more counter-protestors on the Mall than ANY news media showed. A lot ferer ANSWER folk than they made it appear too.

For another accurate account of the event see Human Events. Like them or not, that report matches up in general with what I saw and lots of great details that I did not get to see.

[joe]

Guy,

Think hard. Does "I don't know a single person who..." sound at all familiar to you? Perhaps in reference to some earlier political event? Involving Richard Nixon? Is any of this ringing a bell?

[Guy Montag]

joe,

I am not the one who wrote that. You did. Perhaps you are ripping off others, but I did not write that. You did.

[Guy Montag]

Glad this is not a gun thread.

'Are you against criminals having machine guns.' 99:1 for gun control

'Do you favor self defense.' 99:1 pro 2nd Amendment

joe's team

My team

Bye joe, this is my last response to you.

[Rhywun]

Yawn. Extremists suck. Frankly, I would not be found in either of those crowds. I am not in any way anti-military. I think Che was a disgusting tyrant. And I think Iraq is a disaster that we should never have gotten involved in. Where's my protest group?

[rob]

"Yawn. Extremists suck. Frankly, I would not be found in either of those crowds. " - Rhywun

Careful, man... Usually joe jumps at the throat of people who say things like that...