Yesterday, it was reported that 73 Americans died in combat operations in Iraq during July. The right-wing hailed this news, because it was the lowest death count in 8 months. At what point, as Americans, did any of us become satisfied at a death count in the 70's?

    The truth is, the right wing looks for any excuse to tout "progress" in the surge, so that they can justify continued support. Just the other day, two closet neo-cons from the Brookings Institution wrote an op-ed in the NY Times about how they visited Iraq and determined that the "surge" is working. Their evidence seemed to be the high morale of the troops, the decrease in casualties, and the situation on the ground in Anbar province. Again, the right wing was eager to report how these "war critics" were reporting progress. 

First of all, these people are not the "war critics" they claim to be. Both of them were proponents both of the war itself and the surge.  Second of all, these so called analysts don't understand the fundamental truth in Iraq: There will never be a point where we will have "won." I don't care that we have this messiah General Petraeus (who actually is a political appointee with a pretty clear agenda). The hatred among rival factions in Iraq, and against perceived US aggression runs so deep that whatever the US does, short of obliterating the entire region, will not cause the "victory" that right wingers constantly talk about. 

Today, we find out that not only is the Iraqi parliament taking the month off, but the Sunni minority is leaving the government in protest of Prime Minister Maliki. If that were not enough, this morning gave us a stark reminder of how perilous Iraq actually is. 67 People, and 3 American GIS were killed by a truck bomb in Baghdad, the very place where the surge is supposed to be succeeding. 

It boggles my mind that people who have been so wrong at every point in this disastrous conflict are still seen as credible. The war is a disaster. The surge has not only failed to quell the violence, but has produced no political progress. Hopefully, we'll get to a point where we don't have to hear rightists celebrating a death count of 73, and the masters of war will once again realize that even Jesus could never forgive what they do.