skip to nav

them are being re-established... And Iraqi leaders are stepping forward."

This, of course, was exactly the line being promoted by even more senior US generals in Iraq, advancing their view that the moment was in sight when well-trained Iraqi security forces could take over and US forces commence withdrawal.

In truth, Iraq was sliding rapidly towards the abyss. Soon the Iraqi army would emerge as detachments fighting on behalf of their own religion or ethnicity. Civil war was already well over the horizon.

No officer serving in Iraq has had as rapturous a press claque as Petraeus, promoted this January to command the multi-national force in Iraq.

We can judge the weight the general attaches to propaganda from the new army field manual on counterinsurgency, published in December 2006, co-authored by Petraeus. Tricked out with post-modern cultural theory, it insists on the paramount importance of "control of the narrative" and "shaping the information environment".
In 1967, General Westmoreland declared: ‘I have never been more encouraged.’ The Vietnam war dragged on for eight years

Since the beginning of the 'surge', Petraeus has been diligent in exactly the sort of 'shaping' his manual emphasises. By April, he was telling reporters that "the local people [in Anbar province] are on the side of the new Iraq instead of on the side of the insurgents or even al-Qaeda". In fact, news reports made it clear that while the "local people" did reject al-Qaeda's barbarous fundamentalism, they had zero loyalty to "the new Iraq".

There's no mystery as to what Petraeus will tell Congress. Yes, he will say, there could be a draw-down in US troops, but there is no shortcut in Iraq's journey to democracy. His audience will be respectful. He will not be troubled with unduly zealous enquiries.

He and the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, will paint as rosy a picture as can be managed within the bounds of credibility. Then they'll return to the reality of Iraq where the UN says the number of Iraqis fleeing their homes has gone from 50,000 to 60,000 a month. So much for the 'surge' which, having served its political purpose, will soon be forgotten. 

FIRST POSTED SEPTEMBER 7, 2007

News & Comment: News & Politics