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The surge—a collection
Here are articles of mine on the surge: The surge (December 2006) The eternal surge (September 2007) The debilitating dream that never dies (September 2007) The unreality of our Iraq policy—and of the thought process required to defend it (September 2007—analysis of how we mistake an endless process for “success”) What is the failure we fear? What is the success we seek? (September 2007) On the Petraeus testimony (September 2007—my fullest consideration of the surge at its best). Iraq update (November 30, 2007, status of surge) The official story on Iraq, then and now (December 2007—the reversal in our strategy from “A will lead to B,” to “B will lead to A,” but both are equally illusory.) Does victory over al Qaeda in Iraq mean victory in Iraq? (July 2008—while victory over al Qaeda in Iraq seems imminent, GIs and Iraqis in Baghdad say the relative peace in Baghdad is only a lull which will end when the surge ends.) I was right about Iraq [January 2009. How the success of the surge proves correct my 2004 statement at FP that if we succeeded, it would be by unexpected “good fortune.” That good fortune turned out to be the Sunni Awakening. At the same time, the larger purpose of democratization and nation-building has failed.] Final thoughts on Iraq and the surge [September 2010. “The Bush/neocon policy was a complete disaster, mitigated only by the fact that, in the end, we were able to withdraw our fighting forces from Iraq without instantly delivering the country into the hands of al Qaeda or some other hell. And that withdrawal was made possible in part by the surge, which came only after four years of utterly failed policy which the neocons kept calling a success, and in part by the unexpected good fortune of the Sunni awakening. Without the Sunni awakening, there could have been no peaceful U.S. withdrawal. The neocons’ boast of success in Iraq is a lie. And most of them will go to their graves repeating it.”]
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