Progress

Twice in the last two weeks the Pentagon has announced the death of nine U.S. soldiers and Marines at one time. Twice in the last two weeks there have been horrific suicide car bombings in the city of Karbala, one of which killed 171 Iraqis in one explosion.

The death rate for U.S. troops in the two months since “the surge” began is greater than in the two months before the surge began. The violence in Baghdad has simply relocated to cities just outside of Baghdad. The supposedly whacked mole has found new holes.

Oh, but wait. The surge isn’t in full surge yet. That will take another two months. Originally, the Bush administration said that we would know if the surge was working by July. Two days ago, they said we would know in September. I’ll tell you when we’ll get a definitive answer – the day after the next presidential inauguration in January 2009.

The U.S. began constructing an Iraqi “Three-Mile Island” of sorts – a three-mile wall in Baghdad that is supposed to separate some Sunnis from some Shia. The Iraqi government called the idea ridiculous and unacceptable and ordered that the construction be stopped. Apparently, U.S. and Iraqi leaders aren’t discussing things like this in advance.

The US Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction recently inspected eight of the major reconstruction projects that the administration has touted as “clear successes” in the effort to rebuild the shattered Iraqi infrastructure. The IG found that seven of the eight projects are no longer operating, including most of the electrical generators at Baghdad International Airport. At a maternity hospital in Erbil, the “new” medical waste incinerator and water purification system are not functioning. The incinerator is padlocked and no one could even find the keys. The IG wanted to inspect several other facilities, but the areas where they’re located are too unsafe for the inspectors to enter. Any bets on the functionality of the reconstruction projects in those areas?

Six members of the Iraqi cabinet resigned as directed by Muqtada al Sadr, the Shiite cleric who is probably the most powerful person in or around Baghdad, if not in all of Iraq. Al Sadr is angry that the Iraqi government hasn't insisted on a timeline for American withdrawal. The Bush administration labeled this a good thing, claiming that it gives the Shia dominated government the opportunity to bring in more Sunnis. Yeah, right. If you believe that you’ll never own your own home.

All this, according to the president, is progress in Iraq and evidence that his plan is working. God forbid that we should ever experience what the president regards as a lack of progress or what he concludes is a failed plan.