Yesterday, Grand Rapids area Representative Vern Ehlers issued a brief response to General Petraeus' testimony before Congress on Iraq via his "Ehlers e-Newsletter." The West Michigan representative said:

"Based on today's statements by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, it is now clear that coalition forces have made significant progress in curbing violence in parts of Iraq."

And that:

"Our armed forces must continue their mission of attempting to establish peace and security on the ground in Iraq. I am optimistic that our progress is bringing security to parts of Iraq which were once thought of as hopeless. We hope this will help the Iraqi government in its efforts to reach stability."

Ehlers' statements of support for the United States' continued presence in Iraq are consistent with his statements since March of this year in which he has argued that the United States has a "moral obligation" to remain in Iraq to prevent further bloodshed.

Ehlers' response to Petraeus' testimony shows that once again he is willing to accept the position of the Bush administration without considering either the opinions of his constituents, the wishes of the Iraqi people, or alternative views of the "progress" in Iraq that allegedly have come as a result President Bush's January 2007 "surge," which Ehlers supported.

While Petraeus yesterday claimed before Congress that "the surge" has brought some progress in Iraq, numerous sources have questioned his claims with some even accusing the Pentagon of using misleading numbers and purposefully misleading Congress. Critics are pointing out that while Petraeus suggested that there has been progress in Iraq, most numerical indicators--from the 2.2 million Iraqis displaced externally to the 1.9 million displaced internally--show that the situation is not improving. Petraeus made no mention of displaced Iraqis, nor did he attempt to explain why deaths from sectarian killings were down from July but higher than June. Independent reports from Iraq have suggested that militia influence has increased, despite reports coming from the United States government that progress has been made in that area.

The Center for American Progress argued that there were several things that Petraeus neglected to mention:

...violence in Baghdad is down, that overall sectarian deaths in Iraq have been reduced, that Iraqi security forces are standing up, and that some Sunni tribes are turning against al-Qaeda. But they will not point out that overall civilian deaths in all of Iraq are increasing; civilian deaths in August were 1809, up by 49 compared to July's 1760 deaths.

...May was the deadliest month in 2007, with over 1900 civilian deaths. Nor will they note that the Pentagon's estimate of sectarian deaths does not include Shi'a on Shi'a violence, Sunni on Sunni violence, car bombings or people being shot in the head from in front.

...the drop in violence in Baghdad has more to do with population displacement than the surge. Before the war, Baghdad had a 65 percent Sunni majority. It is now 75 percent Shi'a. More than half of all Baghdad's neighborhoods are now Shi'a dominated as compared to a handful just a year ago.

...since the surge began, the number of internally displaced persons in Iraq has doubled to 1.1 million, 200,000 of whom are in Baghdad alone. And that every month in 2007 has seen more American casualties than the same month in 2006. Since the surge began more than 800 American servicemen have died.

...the quality of life for ordinary Iraqi's continues to deteriorate. Some 70 percent of Iraqi's lack adequate water supplies, compared to 50 percent before the invasion, nearly 30 percent of Iraqi children are malnourished, and Iraq is meeting only 50 percent of its electrical demand. It is no wonder that 2.4 million people have already left Iraq and are living as refugees throughout the Middle East and that Iraq is second on a the list of the world's most badly failing states.

...the Iraqi national police are so ineffective that an independent group of military officers said that they should be disbanded, and that the number of Army units capable of operating independently dropped by 40 percent over the past six months.

Petraeus also attempted to win over Congressional critics of the war by suggesting that he will withdraw 30,000 troops from Iraq in the summer of 2008. However, Petraeus has previously stated that he foresees in Iraq. Moreover, the 30,000 number is simply the number of soldiers mobilized as part of "the surge" which would mean that a substantial force (nearly 130,000) would remain in the country. In order to allow for his 30,000 soldier reduction in the summer of 2008, Petraeus is asking Congress to wait until March of 2008 to make decisions about troop cuts.

Petraeus' testimony is a key component of an effort by the White House to gain support for a continued occupation of Iraq. During the month of August, Petraeus spent 17 days campaigning in support of "the surge," while at the same time Republicans launched an aggressive advertising campaign pressuring Republicans to keep supporting the war. President Bush also participated in the media campaign, with Bush delivering a major speech comparing Iraq to Vietnam and making a surprise visit to Iraq earlier this month. The media was largely willing to go along with this campaign, with Fox News going so far as to allow Petraeus sixteen minutes to explain his position without being questioned. The Bush administration's views dominated the airwaves over the summer, with the major news media focusing little attention on the war according to a study by Media Matters.

Perhaps the most important thing to consider in light of Petraeus' and Ehlers' willingness to keep troops in Iraq are the wishes of the Iraqi people. A recent poll conducted by ABC News, the BBC, and Japanese Television NHK reveal that 70% of Iraqis believe that "the surge" has made security worse in Iraq. The same poll reports that 46% of Iraqis believe that a full-scale civil war would be less likely if the United States withdrew before "civil order" was restored in the country. At the same time, 57% of the population continues to back armed attacks on the United States military. Unfortunately, this is not surprising when one considers that the war and occupation have killed over 655,000 Iraqi civilians, with a recent estimate suggesting that the number may be closer to 1 million.