The N.Y. Times has surfaced a classified U.S. military briefing that concludes, in chart form, that Iraq is veering toward “chaos.”

  • This is yet more proof that Bush & Co.’s public statements about Iraq are at odds with the conclusions of our own military. Some people call that lying.

    • New York Times:

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 — A classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the United States Central Command portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos, in a chart that the military is using as a barometer of civil conflict.

    A one-page slide shown at the Oct. 18 briefing provides a rare glimpse into how the military command that oversees the war is trying to track its trajectory, particularly in terms of sectarian fighting.

    The slide includes a color-coded bar chart that is used to illustrate an “Index of Civil Conflict.” It shows a sharp escalation in sectarian violence since the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February, and tracks a further worsening this month despite a concerted American push to tamp down the violence in Baghdad.

    Link

    TRUTHDIG’S JOURNALISM REMAINS CLEAR

    The storytellers of chaos tried to manipulate the political and media narrative in 2025, but independent journalism exposed what they tried to hide. When you read Truthdig, you see through the illusion.

    Support Independent Journalism.

    SUPPORT TRUTHDIG