Iraq - why the surge won't work

The surge, by itself will not, cannot work. Military intervention to control crime and murder and destruction is only a leg of the stool. Until political reconciliation occurs, the surge is moot; the stool cannot stand.

Look at the recent chaos (mind you this is JUST Baghdad, and reported for TODAY):

• BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed four policemen and one civilian and wounded nine more police in Jihad in southwest Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Police were checking a suspicious vehicle when it exploded.
• BAGHDAD - A car bomb targeting an Iraqi army checkpoint killed a soldier and wounded three others on Wednesday near al-Shurta tunnel in western Baghdad, police said.
• BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb in Bayaa district in southern Baghdad killed three people and wounded 20 others, police said.
  BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol wounded three soldiers in the western Ghazaliya district of Baghdad, a Reuters witness said.
• BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber blew himself up in a market in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad, killing five and wounding 15, a police source said.
• BAGHDAD - Gunmen attacked the motorcade of the head of traffic police, Jaafar al-Khafaji, in northern Baghdad, killing two traffic policemen and wounding two others, police said.
• BAGHDAD - Gunmen kidnapped Hassan Abdul-Latif, an official of the Iraqi Customs Office in central Baghdad, on Wednesday, police said.
• BAGHDAD - Thirteen bodies were found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.
• BAGHDAD - Two policemen were killed and six wounded when they approached a car bomb in Amil district in southwestern Baghdad, police said. There was a body in the car.
  
  ...
  
• A mortar round landed on Baghdad airport on Thursday with no casualties, an eyewitness said. “The mortar round landed on Baghdad airport today at 11:00 am, setting travelers there into panic,” said a VOI reporter who was present at the airport when the shell landed. The panic vanished as soon as Iraqi security men assured travelers that the situation was under control and no casualties were reported, he said. A security man told VOI “these incidents occurred repeatedly so the airport halls and runways were placed far from the range of possible mortar and katyusha attacks.” Baghdad airport, 20 km southwest of Baghdad, is also used by U.S. forces as a base. Source: Airport-Mortar :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq
• Unknown gunmen attacked a U.S. vehicle convoy on Thursday in southwestern Baghdad, setting a vehicle ablaze, an eyewitness said. “Unknown gunmen attacked with RPGs a U.S. vehicle convoy passing the main road in al-Shurat al-Rabia, southwestern Baghdad,” an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
  He added, “the attack set ablaze a U.S. Hummer.” U.S. forces cordoned off the scene while the burned vehicle was towed to an unknown place, the eyewitness said.
• “A billow of smoke covered the area near the attack location,” he said. The U.S. army could not be immediately reached to confirm the incident.
  Source: U.S.-Attack :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq
• A senior Iraqi police officer survived an attempt on his life early Thursday after an attack, by unidentified gunmen, on his motorcade in northeastern Baghdad, while one of his bodyguards was killed and two others were wounded in the attack, police sources said. “Unidentified gunmen attacked General Jaafar al-Khafaji’s motorcade using machine guns and light arms in al-Qahera neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad,” a security source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
• “The attack killed one bodyguard and injured two others,” he added. General al-Khafaji is working for the traffic police department in Baghdad. Source: Baghdad-Assassination :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq
• Eight civilians were killed and 32 others were wounded when three booby-trapped cars went off early Thursday in different parts of Baghdad, a police source said.
• “A car bomb exploded this morning near street 20 in al-Bayaa neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, killing two civilians and injuring 10,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). “Another explosives-rigged car went off near a bus station in al-Mahmoudiya region in southern Baghdad, during which three civilians were killed and 12 others were injured,” he added. “Three citizens were also killed and 10 were wounded when a third car bomb, parked near a fuel station in al-Aamel neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, was detonated,” the source noted. Source: Baghdad-Explosion-Update 1 :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq
• A Katyusha rocket landed, on Thursday morning, near the joint security center currently under construction in Sadr city in eastern Baghdad, an eyewitness said. “A Katyusha rocket fell at 10:00 am on Thursday near the joint security center being established by U.S. and Iraqi forces in Sadr city,” an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). No immediate comment was available from police on the incident. U.S. forces announced last month that they would establish a joint security centre with Iraqi forces in al-Jazaier police station, near Muthafar square, to boost security in the city within the Fardh al-Qanoon (law-imposing) security plan. Source: Baghdad-Katyusha :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq
  
  (Note: I lost the links; go to link provided at top of article for direct links of these citations.)

Where is the political reconciliation? More on this in a future post, but there is little reason to be optimistic.