Mandatory Reading Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

Nir Rosen in Rolling Stone, writing about the surge.  Nir gets the kind of access that other Western journalists just don't take in Iraq (By taking risks that other journalists don't take in Iraq), and it shows in his exceptional reporting.  I very very very strongly recommend this piece.

Comments

[Timothy Lovestedt]

Its interesting that all the accounts of the "surge working" seem to eliminate some of the facts on the ground. The Federalist Papers and the framers of this country were primarily concerned with controlling factions. By controlling the factions you would prevent civil war(s). In Iraq, the US is counting on achieving peace by arming a minority group (faction). The Rolling Stone article describes how the US is engaged in a campaign of arming and cutting checks to the Sunnis, and the uneasy nature of Sunni/Shiite relations. So what have we achieved? We have achieved peace by arming 80,000 Sunnis. Which means we have armed 80,000 Sunnis. Crazy. We have created a heavily armed religious army in a country where their arch enemies (equally as religious) are the majority. The Federalist Papers are available free online, send the Administration a link. The "surge" and its reported "success" are doomed.