Let me see if I have all the good news straight. When Sunnis attack Shi’a, we should consider it encouraging.
Q: Let me follow on that, because I think some American officials have called [the attack on the Askariya shrine in Samarra] an act of desperation. And I’m wondering how this is seen as an act of desperation. Does that mean that the terrorists are so concerned that they’re sort of being shut down, and that the surge is so effective that they’re now desperate to make a statement?
SNOW: …It does fit a pattern that we see throughout the region, which is that when you see things moving towards success, or when you see signs of success, that there are acts of violence.
When we help Sunnis attack other Sunnis, that, too, is encouraging.
With the four-month-old increase in American troops showing only modest success in curbing insurgent attacks, American commanders are turning to another strategy that they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni Arab groups that have promised to fight militants linked with Al Qaeda who have been their allies in the past.
American commanders say they have successfully tested the strategy in Anbar Province west of Baghdad and have held talks with Sunni groups in at least four areas of central and north-central Iraq where the insurgency has been strong. In some cases, the American commanders say, the Sunni groups are suspected of involvement in past attacks on American troops or of having links to such groups. Some of these groups, they say, have been provided, usually through Iraqi military units allied with the Americans, with arms, ammunition, cash, fuel and supplies…. [T]he American engagement with the Sunni groups has brought some early successes against Al Qaeda, particularly in Anbar.
And when Sunni and Shi’a are attacking Americans, that, too, is encouraging.
Need proof that the “surge” is working? Gen. David Petraeus has this to offer: The bad guys are starting to kill Americans rather than Iraqis.
On “Fox News Sunday” yesterday, Chris Wallace asked Petraeus about last week’s Pentagon report on Iraq — the one that said that the “overall level of violence” remained unchanged during the first several months of the “surge.”
“General,” Wallace asked, “why shouldn’t we back home view that as disappointing?”
Petraeus’ response: “Well, the aggregate level is about the same. We actually have borne the brunt of much more of that, as have Iraqi security forces, and civilians a good bit less.
“In fact, one of the metrics that we track, which is sectarian murders and executions in Baghdad, went down … by the end of April, it was down to about a third of where it was back in January.
“It did come back up as we announced in the month of May a little less than half. That is trending back down again.
“The fact is that as we go on the offensive, the enemy is going to respond. That is what has happened. Car bombs have been coming steadily down. And as I mentioned, sectarian executions in Baghdad in particular have come down.”
If I didn’t know better, I might think that no matter what happens on the ground in Iraq, war supporters in the administration are going to tell us that it’s an encouraging sign.