UNITED States General David Petraeus's report 13 September to Congress was greeted on the streets of Washington by a 100,00 strong demonstration led by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Two-hundred were arrested, including the iconic Cindy Sheehan, in a "die-in" of 5,000, recalling similar events during the Vietnam War.
President George W Bush made a rare prime-time speech endorsing Petraeus's recommendations. More than half of the Americans polled assumed Petraeus exaggerated. Past reports by Army generals may have fuelled the scepticism.
Remember the battle of Falluja? After the troops flattened the city, insurgents crept back in, undermining the military gains. Meanwhile, in a Sunni stronghold in Anbar Province, Shia militias took control of some Baghdad neighbourhoods, creating one facet of the security problem that Petraeus is now trying to address.
The US must bring its troops home now and the US public must not buy into another version of the Vietnam deception. (photo: AFP)

parent page (20 - 26 September 2007, issue #863)