Editor&Publisher: McClatchy Report Questions Claims of Progress in Baghdad

[DeepModem Mom]

McClatchy Report Questions Claims of Progress in Baghdad
By E&P Staff
Published: August 15, 2007

NEW YORK A report today by McClatchy's Baghdad bureau chief, Laila Fadel, questions numbers and claims put forward by the U.S. military to suggest that the "surge" may be working. While U.S. officials claim the number of civilian casualties in the Iraqi capital is down 50 percent, they declined to provide specific numbers. "Statistics gathered by McClatchy Newspapers don't support the claim," Fadel notes.

Her articles opens: "Despite U.S. claims that violence is down in the Iraqi capital, U.S. military officers are offering a bleak picture of Iraq’s future, saying they’ve yet to see any signs of reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite Muslims despite the drop in violence.

"Without reconciliation, the military officers say, any decline in violence will be temporary and bloodshed could return to previous levels as soon as the U.S. military cuts back its campaign against insurgent attacks.

"That downbeat assessment comes despite a buildup of U.S. troops that began five months ago Wednesday and has seen U.S. casualties reach the highest sustained levels since the United States invaded Iraq nearly four and a half years ago....

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The lengthy article is available at:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/18927.html

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003626324

[Quantess]

1. Sure. Great progress, uh huh, yeah right.

K & R.