Truth in Iraq

To the editor:

The Bush administration used Colin Powell as its mouthpiece to convince the public to support the Iraq invasion based upon faulty and misleading evidence. We know we were lied to then; I believe we are being lied to now.

Gen. Petraeus testified as to only part of the story in Iraq when he says major progress is being made.

According to MoveOn.org, the Washington Post, The New York Times, the ABC/BBC poll, Associated Press and Los Angeles Times confirmed the following problems with the general’s testimony:

1. Petraeus does not tell us that in counting the level of violence, he does not count deaths by car bombs or assassinations unless the victim is shot in the back of the head, not in the front.

2. Every single Iraqi polled said the surge had made security worse.

3. The independent GAO report found that violence is up, that more U.S. troops died every month this year compared with the same month last year.

When asked point-blank on Sept. 12 by what date troops would be withdrawn, Petraeus delivered a masterful doublespeak in which he never answered the question.

Mission accomplished?

Margie Wakefield,

Lawrence