Surprise? Shouldn't Be!

[Annie]

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/..._iraq_shouldnt_be_such_an_unwelcome_surprise/

Success in Iraq shouldn’t be such an unwelcome surprise

Andrew Bolt
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 12:02am


The question now is: How did we get to this brink of success in Iraq, when the vast bulk of media coverage predicted only defeat, civil war and utter ruin?

The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq…

There is widespread agreement that AQI has suffered major blows over the past three months. Among the indicators cited is a sharp drop in suicide bombings, the group’s signature attack, from more than 60 in January to around 30 a month since July. Captures and interrogations of AQI leaders over the summer had what a senior military intelligence official called a “cascade effect,” leading to other killings and captures. The flow of foreign fighters through Syria into Iraq has also diminished, although officials are unsure of the reason and are concerned that the broader al-Qaeda network may be diverting new recruits to Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Add to this other signs of progress such as the dramatic fall in deaths of Iraqi civilians and US soldiers.

And then reverse my question: How is it that most of the Western media covering Iraq never saw success coming? This is actually the more critical issue.

 

[Diuretic]

How did you find Bolt Kathianne? He's a sort of dumbed down Hitchens for us Aussies, no-one takes him seriously here because he's so ideologically hidebound. I have no idea what he takes at work to write the rubbish he does but I don't want to go anywhere near it

 

[Annie]

How did you find Bolt Kathianne? He's a sort of dumbed down Hitchens for us Aussies, no-one takes him seriously here because he's so ideologically hidebound. I have no idea what he takes at work to write the rubbish he does but I don't want to go anywhere near it

Perhaps in this case he made sense and fit the parameters of my search? Could that be?

 

[Diuretic]

Perhaps in this case he made sense and fit the parameters of my search? Could that be?

I'm not being critical of you, I'm having a really good ad hom against Andrew though, I'll cough to that

 

[Adam's Apple]

Bolt was only twitting the western press when he asked such a question. The answer is crystal clear to anyone not a leftie.

 

[doniston]

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/..._iraq_shouldnt_be_such_an_unwelcome_surprise/

What "SUCCESS"??