Short Critical Blog Summary

Section 1: Major Theme
Over the course of the past few months, there has been quite a few different happening within the borders of Iraq and on Capitol Hill in relation the United States' war in Iraq. However, one significant item seems to stand out the most after writing and analyzing all of the events that have recently happened. Essentially, the United States has gotten into a war that it cannot win. Over the course of the semester, one thing is for sure. The situation in Iraq hasn't improved. That conclusion can be derived off of several aspects of what has happened in and around Baghdad, including the continued bombings and how they are getting more complex, the inability for any progress to be made between the Sunni and Shia populations, and the sheer fact that the Bush administration is spinning the war in Iraq in almost a complete opposite direction than what is actually happening. Around 15 articles in the blog assignment have covered the ever-present bombings and attacks occuring, and around 10 have talked about the Bush White House's inability to get the facts right. In addition, a few posts detailed what the new Democratic congress has done in an attempt to bring the troops home soon. But most importantly, each of the posts done in the past few months have explained one thing -- even if the message was never even written in text. Simply, the War in Iraq is not improving and the United States really has no idea on how to win it. They went in with a plan to strike out the first batter but forgot that there were still 8 and 2/3 innings to play in this baseball game. Instead, the United States has become just another target for the negative emotions directed in the culture war between sects in Iraq. Without a doubt, this theme will continue to develop, even if in the shadows, because the progress in Iraq on a social level is not going anywhere to stop the violence on a physical level.

Section 2: Prediction
Oddly enough, the theme and prediction in this summary seem to run into each other very, very well. It's very easy to fall into the trap of what the Bush administration is saying about progress by giving whimsical numbers and questioning the loyalty of the folks who think we should leave Iraq. Propaganda aside, the fact is that Iraq is not a war that can be won, and within a year the US will have a plan to leave Iraq -- if they aren't already pulling out. It's pretty interesting to know that this war has now gone on longer than the US's involvement in WW2, and even more alarming to realize that this is turning into this generation's Vietnam. We have grossly underestimated many parts of the war -- except the drive to Baghdad -- and forgotten that the insurgents in Iraq will consider a victory by simply stalemating US forces. I think all of this is easily backed up by the fact that insurgent attacks continue to happen with a regularity that causes the American population to be very casual about what is happening and that the Democratic congress is not going to be standing behind Bush on every word that comes from his mouth.

Section 3: Commenting Process
I'd have to say that this project overall was a tremendous idea. Instead of saying "read the newspaper everyday", it forces students to interact with the media especially and also be able to analyze what is going to happen. This was especially important to me because it seems so easy to get lost in what is happening in Iraq, but now I was able to keep track. However, I felt that the commenting process was indeed flawed. Sometimes, people would not write nearly enough in their summaries to even follow what they were saying, and other times there just would not be much to comment about. People can't make outlandish or large statements about everything everyday to get the commenting going, and its tough to track who had new articles up and who was commenting. A more central system would be nice that alerted people in the whole class what was going on other blogs. But that is obviously very complex and probably not suitable for this type of class.

Accounts Differ on Raid in Baghdad

by Karin Brulliad, Washington Post Staff Writer

The U.S. military has said that Iraqi troops entered a mosque in Hurriyah Monday and detained around 50 people who were later released. Following that operation, a separate group of 20 armed men attacked US and Iraqi soliders with grenades and guns -- resulting in the deaths of 3 insurgents upon return fire. Iraq's interior ministry said instead that six civilians were killed and more injured in an US helicopter attack. Witnesses apparently saw indiscriminate shooting but no fire from a helicopter.

So who's to believe? Its tough to bet against witnesses on the ground and the US's recent ability to not divulge the whole truth about everything, but I'd imagine there is a figment of truth in each situation. Regardless, the point of this incident is much larger. It's very likely that the US soldiers did not actually start the firefight, but who knows at this point, because the real travesty is that America's young men and women are still stuck in a battle they can't win. They are, in essence, trying to fix something that is centuries old in a country they really know nothing about.

Iraq's War Statistics Prove Fleeting

by Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Staff Writer

In this analysis, a total misrepresentation of the numbers provided by the US government concerning Iraq is debated. In what DeYoung calls a "fog of modern counterinsurgency warfare", she tells that instead of physical work on the ground, success is now being in Iraq by statistics. She even talks about how the Bush White House can't even seem to agree on each other, citing references that Bush and Rumsfeld made, with Rumsfeld discrediting Bush's steady stream of stats by calling them misleading. In what could one of the most recent ploys, President Bush told the nation in January that 21,500 troops would be heading to Iraq in a surge, but the number -- in less than two months -- has risen to 28,700. Rumsfeld was quoted nine months into the war as saying "We don't do body counts on other people," with the legitimacy of the that in complete quagmire because there are constantly updates on how many insurgents and terrorists were killed in action that day. Needless to say, there are plenty of arguments to back up this argument, and it makes you wonder how the United States can be so quick in throwing out numbers to back its work in Iraq. At what point are numbers that mean anything to Americans -- such as the troops will be coming home in 2 weeks -- be thrown at the American public? We can't wait long enough.

Chlorine Bombs Kill 10, Injure at Least 350 in Iraq

by Karen Brulliard, Washington Post Staff Writer
March 17, 2007

In yet another example of how the situation in Iraq is continuing to spiral out of the United States' hands, more bombs laced with chlorine gas exploded in Anbar yesterday. In one of the most extensive attacks in recent memory, the truck bombs caused over 350 injuries while killing at least 10. 2 of the slain included two Iraqi police officers and 7 U.S. Army members were injured. Three bombs in total exploded, releasing the gas that was often used in World War 1 from 200-gallon tanks. Previous chlorine attacks in Iraq have already occured, and last month, US forces raided a factory that was supposedly building these weapons. Obviously, this is an indicator of how the insurgents haven't really felt the affect of the so-called security crackdown in and around Baghdad, because their attacks are taking a new, more violent turn. This fifth incident with chlorine can only be a negative sign for progress in Iraq because of the insurgents new ability to detonate chemical bombs.