In case you missed it
Sunnis out, Shias in
It is a cornerstone of Republican John MCain’s presidential campaign: The troop surge is working in Iraq.
Now it appears that McCain is telling a lie (albeit not his own invention), again.
The truth: It is ethnic cleansing, not additional U.S. troops, which have caused a decrease in violence in Sunni neighborhoods, according to a UCLA professor.
Satellite images analyzed by UCLA georgraphy professor John Agnew show that the lights are out in neigborhoods that–had they been saved by U.S. troops–would be on.
“Essentially, our interpretation is that violence has declined in Baghdad because of intercommunal violence that reached a climax as the surge was beginning,” said lead author John Agnew, a UCLA professor of geography and authority on ethnic conflict. “By the launch of the surge, many of the targets of conflict had either been killed or fled the country, and they turned off the lights when they left.”
UCLA study of satellite imagery casts doubt on surge’s success in Baghdad.
maybe they’re worried about greenhouse gasses and thought it would be a good idea to turn their lights out at night. Pretty chart though, Johnnie Ag’s. He even admits that violence peaked at the time of the surge’s beginning. Meaning it declined once the surge started? What’s the problem?