Life in Iraq

If you look back to the summer of 2005, you'll see that few people at the time regarded conditions in Iraq as "good" or even acceptable. And yet things got so much worse over the course of 2006 and early 2007, that improvement in 2008 to bring us back to the kind of level of violence we had three years ago -- except with more walled-off and ethnically cleansed neighborhoods in place -- is now represented as a great triumph. James Vega has a forceful post up at The Democratic Strategist reminding us of how perverse this is.

And then you get things like today's newspaper headline "Bomb Attacks in Baghdad and Kirkuk Kill Dozens". The essence of the "success" of the surge is that, as in 2004 and 2005, you only sometimes read about that kind of thing, whereas at its worst you read about it frequently. That's not nothing, but people should understand that even in its "better" state Iraq is very much a shattered society featuring an unenviable quality of life.

DoD photo by Spc. Richard Del Vecchio, U.S. Army

Comments

Basically, between the number dead, the number in exile, and the number sequestered behind walls "the Surge" seems to have simply removed the targets.

And yet, as the huge number of people killed (48) today, it's not all heaven yet even with lowered expectations.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | July 28, 2008 2:22 PM

Am I the only one who thought the first half of Matt's book was MUCH better than the second half? I mean, as a somewhat well-informed citizen, I felt like the second half of Matt's book was just a summary of crap I already knew, with small bits of analysis sprinkled throughout but nothing memorable.

Anyone agree?

Posted by Honest Critic | July 28, 2008 2:26 PM

That said around 40% of U.S. citizens believe Iraq and 9/11 are one and the same. Therefore whatever misery Iraqis suffer they brought upon themselves. They're brown, they're not Christian and somebody in the world has to be miserable and somebody has to pay for spoiling the NYC skyline. Might as well be them, what with Saddam and Bin Laden being co-conspirators and fellow terrorists bent on destroying America. There will never be a consensus Iraq is a terrible tragedy when nearly half the country thinks they got what they deserve and deserve a bit more at that.

Posted by steve duncan | July 28, 2008 2:31 PM

Matt,

While I sympathize with your concerns, some things need to be addressed regarding the quality of life in Iraq. Life has actually gotten much better, and here is some of the evidence -
- Bilad and BIAP now have many of the same amenities as bases in Kuwait and even stateside - large movie theaters, swimming pools, Pizza Hut, Burger King and a full size PX. Since 2005 we've even had paved streets and shuttle service.
- Signing and re-up bonuses, even for enlistees who never would have qualified to join the Army a few years ago, have reached new highs. Captains are now eligible for bonuses of 35K if they don't leave. 97% of Captains eligible for promotion to Major are now getting their promotions! Unprecedented!

Regardless of your opinions on Iraq and whether we need a prolonged occupation vs. a permanent one, you have to admit that supporting the troops is more important than anything else. If we don't support the troops, than Al Qaeda wins and if Al Qaeda wins, then we all lose. So please acknowledge that life is getting better in Iraq for our brave heroes in uniform - it clearly is. It should also be noted that this is all part of the surge, and the surge has been a major success, maybe the most brilliant political/military success of the modern era. Life in Iraq is part of the surge, too - it has gotten better and is getting better every day. Surge!

Posted by Sergeant Freedom | July 28, 2008 3:30 PM

It's so pathetic that we send all these people who could be doing something good over here or somewhere else to be shot at in Iraq. And then our government doesn't even build or fix the stuff it's supposed to build or fix for the Iraqis or our troops right, so it's like the troops are treading water while the Iraqis never get anything more to live for than they had a couple of years ago or longer.

142 Americans got wounded in Iraq last month!

Posted by Swan | July 28, 2008 3:59 PM

That said around 40% of U.S. citizens believe Iraq and 9/11 are one and the same...They're brown, they're not Christian and somebody in the world has to be miserable and somebody has to pay for spoiling the NYC skyline. Might as well be them, what with Saddam and Bin Laden being co-conspirators and fellow terrorists bent on destroying America.

Mr. Duncan, your condescending comments about dumb, racist Americans misses the point that Americans believe these things because their government told them they were true and the mainstream media failed to do its job in 2002-2003.

And contrary to what you say, most Americans now do view the whole Iraq adventure as an expensive mistake and just want it over with.

Posted by Just a Dude | July 28, 2008 7:04 PM

Shouldn't the poster at 3:30 spell his name "Surge"-ant Freedom?

Posted by Glaivester | July 28, 2008 7:26 PM

Ah, regarding the photo - Why's a guy who's in the Air Force in the middle of the desert with a gun?

Posted by Kxf_in_dc | July 28, 2008 7:36 PM

I was looking at the latest update to Brookings' Iraq indices over the weekend, and I noticed that by their measures, the current level of violence seems to be distinctly below its 2005 levels.

Agreed, this isn't all, or even mostly, the Surge. It's that, and the Anbar Awakening, and the Sadrist stand-down, and the aftermath of exile and ethnic cleansing in Baghdad.

And most importantly, even if its proponents were right about the Surge, it still doesn't make up for their being wrong about the war itself. Thousands of American troops dead, tens of thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead, millions in exile abroad or elsewhere in Iraq, and a trillion dollars or more down the tubes. It's great that the combination of factors that included the Surge actually made things better, but it won't bring the dead back to life.

But unless there's some problem with O'Hanlon's methodology (yes, I know what a wanker he is when he writes opinion/analysis pieces), we're not entitled to our own facts. Violence in Iraq is below what it was in 2005.

Posted by low-tech cyclist | July 28, 2008 9:07 PM

That's not nothing, but people should understand that even in its "better" state Iraq is very much a shattered society featuring an unenviable quality of life.

what sort of dip-shits supported this war from the beginning?

dumb

Posted by SYd B | July 28, 2008 9:50 PM

But surely the fact that the trend has reversed is meaningful. The really depressing thing to me is that the "peace by exhaustion" scenario that seemed so awful and inconceivable three years has basically come to pass. But of course we knew it wasn't inconceivable, and if the current trend continues, we'll essentially be glad it happened.

Posted by Andrew | July 29, 2008 12:43 AM