Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Iraq II: Moving From Green to Code Red

This PowerPoint slide from a classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the U.S. Central Command clearly portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos.

It includes a color-coded bar chart that is used to illustrate an “Index of Civil Conflict” and reveals a sharp escalation in sectarian violence since the February 22 bombing of the Golden Mosque, a Shiite shrine in Samarra, which is when I mark the beginning of a civil war that the White House says does not exist. The chart shows a further worsening of conditions in October despite a second major security sweep in Baghdad.
Note that these briefings are prepared for the president, vice president, defense secretary and other high administration officials. Compare their rose-colored statements with the slide.
More here.

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