Cooking The Books

Written by: Sheri Divers on Sep 10, 2007 1:06 PM EDT

When General Petraeus reports to Congress, he will be reading from the White House stay-the-course talking points.

You and the rest of America already know how Congress should handle this report: Fund Withdrawal, Not the War!  Call both of your Senators right now through the Senate Switchboard operator:

Please report after your calls:

http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/CallReport

Petraeus will claim a 75% reduction of violence since the surge started and will use multiple cherry-picked statistics to spin the White House's case. How did they cook the books?

For starters, they changed the definition of violence:

• The Los Angeles Times reports that people killed in car bombings don't count.¹
• The Washington Post reports that victims shot in the face don't count.²
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies reports that Shi'a vs. Shi'a and Sunni vs. Sunni violence doesn't count.³

It is offensive that our commander-in-chief has ordered a four-star general to mislead

After you call both of your Senators, please report your call:

http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/CallReport

Republicans can claim that funding withdrawal hurts the troops, but America knows better. The position is clear; fund withdrawal, not the war. When it comes to implementing the will of the American people, it's up to the Republicans to decide if they are with us or against us.

Please make the calls. American soldiers are depending on you.

Charles Chamberlain
Political Director

¹ Troop buildup fails to reconcile Iraq, By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times, September 4, 2007
latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-surge4sep04,0,2280359,full.story?coll=la-home-center

² Experts Doubt Drop In Violence in Iraq, By Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, September 6, 2007
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/AR2007090502466.html

³ The Tenuous Case for Strategic Patience in Iraq, by Anthony Cordesman and Arleigh Burke, CSIS, August 6, 2007
csis.org/media/csis/pubs/080607_iraq-strategicpatience.pdf

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