"Success" in Iraq

Sabah Jawad, the secretary of the London-based Iraqi Democrats Against War, appearing on “Middle East Today” a political discussion program, dismissed reports of progress in Iraq.

"I will tell you of the successes in Iraq," he said, "One million killed by the US occupation, five million dispersed people internally and externally. More than a million widows, five million orphans, 150,000 people arrested in centers run by the United States in Iraq, and there is a catalogue of catastrophes inflicted on the people of Iraq by this war. And the sooner they withdraw," he added, "the better for all of us."

Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel also took issue with the upbeat assessment. "I really don't understand how [they can] say there's progress," he said. "But what is worse is the outright lies presented to the American people that Iran is responsible for what is going on."

Adds Senator Gravel, "You have [American] army officers, captains, majors, colonels, who will tell you there is no evidence at all about anything coming over the Iranian border into Iraq. But then you get Petraeus and other generals making these statements."

Gravel wondered how they could make statements that the mortars used on the heavily fortified Green Zone are coming from Iran, for example. "These are outright lies," he said.

[Excerpt of an article by Chris Gelken, Oh My News]