Forgotten goals

Remember when the worst administration in history called for a Surge that was the answer, the final answer, to their blunders? No one any longer is arguing that it worked. The common theme is that the government of al Maliki let it just roll on, did nothing to make any advances in its administration of Iraq. The same group of war criminals is going to ask for more now, to make yet other blunders.

Recent unilateral action in Basra by al Maliki is commonly admitted to have been an effort to shore up his faction in the face of coming elections, not to carry out America's war. Though they will repeat the usual fabrications, the apologists of the occupied White House are losing the war against facts.

In a recent interview with USA TODAY, Crocker said the improved security in Iraq, which followed the troop surge, has contributed to an economic revival, and that the United States has a "moral imperative" to stay and continue to bring down the violence.

A 'MORAL IMPERATIVE': Crocker says U.S. must continue push to decrease violence

Petraeus is expected to ask for a pause in the ongoing drawdown of U.S. troops — leaving about 140,000 — to secure the gains of the troop surge.

Senior administration officials have been making the case that even though the nearly week-long skirmish in Basra ended indecisively, it nevertheless showed that Iraqi forces are making progress.

Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner conceded there were problems with the Basra operation, but said in a recent briefing that "overall, the majority of the Iraqi security forces performed their mission."

"There is no doubt that General Petraeus will present an impressive array of statistics illustrating reductions of violence in Iraq when he testifies before Congress," said Charles Pascual, vice president and director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution. "All key indicators on insurgent attacks, bombings, and civilian and military fatalities demonstrate that violence is down."

But, he said, "I would also predict that if most senior military officers were asked if this progress in security is viable without a political settlement in Iraq, their answer would be no."

The answer should be no. Iraqi troops will continue to fail until they have a real cause to fight for, and it is pretty obvious by now that this al Maliki government isn't that cause.

Twenty-two people were killed and 55 wounded in clashes in Baghdad, police said on Sunday, the worst eruption of violence in the capital since Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called his fighters off the streets a week ago.

Listening yesterday to reports from several representatives of organizations working with displaced people in Iraq, unanimously they reported that it is still impossible to move around in the country, and that those who have been run out of their neighborhoods are unable to return.

It's past time to leave.