Says the Petraeus Non-Report on Progress In Iraq. Down 75% -- The Surge is working!!?:
"We've made remarkable progress," added Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane. "Security has dramatically improved. The number of attacks is down, the number of sectarian killings is dramatically down -- actually 75 percent from a year ago..."
Or maybe it's all in how one defines "violence":
"The intelligence community has its own problems with military calculations. Intelligence analysts computing aggregate levels of violence against civilians for the NIE puzzled over how the military designated attacks as combat, sectarian or criminal, according to one senior intelligence official in Washington. "If a bullet went through the back of the head, it's sectarian," the official said. "If it went through the front, it's criminal.""
Now it all makes sense. Violence other than Sunni-Sunni violence, Shia-Shia violence, Car bombs! for fuck sake, and getting shot in the front of the head is down 75%. So in other words, getting shot in the back of the head is down 75%. Such excellent cherry-picking is most definitely cause for celebration. Just not for anyone interested in ending the war.
"We've made remarkable progress," added Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane. "Security has dramatically improved. The number of attacks is down, the number of sectarian killings is dramatically down -- actually 75 percent from a year ago..."
Or maybe it's all in how one defines "violence":
"The intelligence community has its own problems with military calculations. Intelligence analysts computing aggregate levels of violence against civilians for the NIE puzzled over how the military designated attacks as combat, sectarian or criminal, according to one senior intelligence official in Washington. "If a bullet went through the back of the head, it's sectarian," the official said. "If it went through the front, it's criminal.""
Now it all makes sense. Violence other than Sunni-Sunni violence, Shia-Shia violence, Car bombs! for fuck sake, and getting shot in the front of the head is down 75%. So in other words, getting shot in the back of the head is down 75%. Such excellent cherry-picking is most definitely cause for celebration. Just not for anyone interested in ending the war.
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