About this series:
Laura Flanders talks to creative thinkers and change-makers from the worlds of politics, arts and the new economy. The smartest conversations, with the smartest thinkers and doers of our time, distributed in multiple formats on a variety of platforms. Keep abreast of fresh content by following GRITtv, the site Flanders founded, on Twitter @GRITtv.
"Deadliest bombs since '07 shatter Iraqi Complexes. Key Government Sites. Synchronized car blasts kill more than 130 -- Security issue." So reads th...
"Deadliest bombs since '07 shatter Iraqi Complexes. Key Government Sites. Synchronized car blasts kill more than 130 -- Security issue." So reads the headline in my newspaper. According to the Associated Press, Iraq's deadliest bombing in more than two years killed at least 155 and wounded more than 500 Sunday. Two suicide car bombs blew up almost simultaneously outside the Justice Ministry in downtown Baghdad having passed through multiple check points. At least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, which runs the city, are among the dead. Security issue? Not for those watching US TV. The deadliest coordinated attack in Iraq in two years merited no mention on the Sunday TV shows. Except for CNN, they've moved on to Afghanistan, the so-called "Right War." There, 14 Americans and three civilians were reported dead, victims of two helicopter crashes. By Monday, that was dominating the news.Fourteen Americans equal how many Iraqis? I'd be interested to see the math.What we do know is that many American policy makers are embracing a surge theory of success for US troops. It "worked," in Iraq. It will work -- they believe -- in Afghanistan. Too much attention to what's actually going on in Baghdad -- 155 dead and 500 wounded and all the rest--might unsettle a very convenient consensus.
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