It's (nearly) September 2008 in Iraq...

"It shows how good things are over there now when only the *gays* are complaining!" < / malkin >

Iraq signs 3 billion dollar oil deal with who?

LOL

Cheney's gonna be maaaaaaaaaaaad

Cheney, China, maybe someone misheard along the way.

"Signed, Dick China"

He just needs to subscribe to the old capitalist adage: Don't get mad - diversify your portfolio.

Okay, this may be a really daft question and I may just be really dumb BUT... What evidence is there that the reduction in violence in Iraq is the result of the surge and not something that just, y'know, happened?

I mean, Bush likes to take credit it for it but it seems to me that just because one thing followed the other does not mean that one thing caused the other.

I probably just haven't read enough.

Two biggest factors I know of:

- Sunni sheiks in Anbar province have been suppressing Al Qaeda in Iraq, partly because the USA is bribing them to do so, and partly because they see this as being in their own interest. Not really the surge behind this.

- the Mahdi Army has declared a temporary cease fire with the Iraqi government. The surge probably has something to do with this decision, but it has not really changed the situation on the ground in terms of the Mahdi Army being any weaker or less able to cause havoc the moment it decides to resume violence. As soon as we pull back a bit, they could move ahead. IOW, no real change, just a temporary lull.