This has been the call of the McCain campaign for months. The surge is working and all is well in Iraq. Yes, the “surge” is working, but not because of anything that was accomplished by the US efforts. Sunni tribes made it the fragile success that all are witnessing.
The lull of violence here has encouraged people to appear in the street, which used to be one of hottest turf war battleground when Baghdad’s sectarian conflicts were rampant.
Life seems to have gone back to normal here, where people jostle on the sidewalk; families spend good hours wandering in front of shops and stalls showcasing various goods; old men gather in cafes, smoking water pipes, drinking tea and socializing, while teenage girls stand giggling and gossiping in ice-cream shops.
The boost of U.S. troops, and uprising of Sunnis against al-Qaida and the ceasefire of a major Shiite militia are the major factors contributing to the security pickup.
The U.S. military says violence has dropped to a four-year low across Iraq. The Iraqi government is also calling for expediting the political reconciliation and the return of refugees.
However, doubt about whether it is a real and sustainable peace is still pervasive among Iraqis.
“I am not sure that we will have a real peace, because nothing tangible happened that may change the violent course of life in Baghdad. To me I think the reason behind the violence is that the country was not ready for the change the Americans and their allies want after the invasion, “said Nu’man Jabir, a 48-year-old electronic engineer.
The U.S.-led coalition forces handed over security control of the Diwaniyah province to Iraq on Wednesday, making it the tenth Iraqi province retrieved from the control among the 18 provinces in Iraq.
However, those ten provinces belong either to Kurdish or to Shiite Iraqis. In the mixed regions, like Baghdad, Nineveh and Diyala, the situation is still unstable and unpredictable.
In Baghdad, Sunnis and Shiites live in separate neighborhoods walled up by concrete. Checkpoints still strew the streets.
“I agree, the walls are effective in protecting the neighborhoods, but my district seems more like a prison or a military camp, because we can leave or enter the neighborhood only through one entrance where soldiers and local Awakening Council members search the cars and everything that get in or out the district,” said Abbas.
The news that all get back in the USA, is from a perspective of that all is well and good in a war zone. The media is selling the Ameriucan people a line of crap…and they are buying it!