Troop Buildup, Yielding Slight Gains, Fails to Meet U.S. Goals

[wellst0nev0ter]

Source: New York Times

BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 — Seven months after the American-led troop “surge” began, Baghdad has experienced modest security gains that have neither reversed the city’s underlying sectarian dynamic nor created a unified and trusted national government.

Improvements have been made. American military figures show that sectarian killings in Baghdad have decreased substantially. In many of Baghdad’s most battle-scarred areas, including Mansour in the west and Ur in the east, markets and parks that were practically abandoned last year have begun to revive.

<snip>

But the overall impact of these developments, so far, has been limited. And in some cases the good news is a consequence of bad news: people in neighborhoods have been “takhalasu” — an Iraqi word for purged, meaning killed or driven away. More than 35,000 Iraqis have left their homes in Baghdad since the American troop buildup began, humanitarian groups reported.

<snip>

To study the full effects of the troop increase at ground level, reporters for The New York Times repeatedly visited at least 20 neighborhoods in Baghdad and its surrounding belts , interviewing more than 150 Iraqi residents, in addition to sectarian militias, Americans patrolling the city and Iraqi officials. They found that the additional troops had slowed, but far from stopped, Iraq’s still-burning civil war. Baghdad remains a city where sectarian violence can flare at any moment, and where the central government is becoming less reliable and relevant as Shiite or Sunni vigilantes demand submission to their own brand of law.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/world/middleeast/09surge.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

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Yet another bomb killed at least 12 people in Sadr City today, is this part of the "progress"?

[bluerum]

1. Yes , but those 12 were not "sectarian killings." We are counting "sectarian killings"

only. Don't muddy the waters with political assassinations and bombings.

And how do we define "sectarian killings?" Sorry - that information is classified for national security purposes. Can't tell the goons our secrets can we?

On edit: Also only counting "sectarian killings" in Bagdhad. Sadr City does not count.