A Surge of phony spin on Iraq by Juan Cole

Published: August 7, 2007, 9:33 pm

SALON8/7/07A surge of phony spin on IraqBush's backers are peddling a sunny view of the president's strategy -- despite Iraq's political chaos and soaring death counts.Juan ColeAs Congress prepared to go on its August recess, Pentagon officials and White House backers were desperately spinning as a success this year's escalation of U.S. troop levels in Iraq. A recent poll shows that there has been a 10 percent uptick in the proportion of Americans who think the so-called surge, first announced by President George W. Bush in January, is having a beneficial effect. But how accurate are the sunny pronouncements coming out of Washington? What would constitute a success for the surge, and how likely is it to be achieved?The troop escalation was intended to calm down Baghdad and to give the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki breathing room to pursue a political reconciliation, especially with the Sunni Arab population. But the political goals of the surge are simply not being

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