Diehl Channels Cheney Lies about Iraq

I am not a fan of Brad Delong's "death spiral" stuff about the major newspapers, but today the Washington Post was worse than usual, putting a column by Jackson Diehl in a box on its editorial column page. In this column Diehl compares the US situation in Iraq with that of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, in particular claiming that both are facing bad people firing rockets with bombs at them. Now, I am not going to defend Israeli policy in either Gaza or Lebanon at all. However, this comparison by Diehl is a slander on the Israelis, at keast in comparison with the US policy. In both places, Israel withdrew its military (and in Gaza its settlers), actions that have been followed, especially in Gaza, by said rocket bombing campaigns.

However, in Iraq, Moqtada al-Sadr had declared a cease fire, which was in place and holding and credited by many with playing a major role in the reduction in violence that the administration touted as evidence of the success of its "surge" campaign. Then, for no clear reason whatsoever, the US supported an unprovoked military campaign by the al-Maliki government against the Sadrists, first in Basra, then in Baghdad, attacking the 2 million people in Sadr City there. The rocket-bomb attacks on the Green Zone out of Sadr City have been in response to this campaign, which continues to go on, and included killing 30 people in a hospital the other day. On top of this, the US spouts misinformation about the sources of the Sadrists's weapons (from Iran!!!), claims not actually supported by a major Iraqi official spokesman, who agrees there are some weapons from Iran, but not clear they came from the government (especially as Iran is backing the government over the Sadrists, according to credible reports). But, again, the US government spouts drivel, and Jackson Diehl seems to be a complete tool in this, along with WaPo.