This is false. The troops were not in place until about July 1. Implementation of the strategy you call the surge started in July and was not fully implemented until late August. It was expected that American casualty figures would increase through the fall due to more engagement by more American forces. Here are the figures for American military deaths in Iraq, including non-combat deaths:

2-2008 29
1-2008 40
12-2007 23
11-2007 37
10-2007 38
9-2007 65
8-2007 84
7-2007 78
6-2007 101
5-2007 126

Also, Sadr fled and declared a cease-fire to save his troops’ lives, hoping for a strong return later. That hasn’t worked out for him since the new strategy took Sadr’s expected strategy into account.

You need a better argument, T.B., the one you posted above makes you look foolish.

your pasted chronology is about as accurate as astrology.

This is just another blow against those who are invested in America’s defeat. You people have been announcing that defeat for five years now. It still hasn’t materialized for you. Your constant carping is growing fainter and fainter. Soon, you’ll have to switch to claiming credit for victory, as CK and BD noted.

Poor baby.

Most of 2007: Surge happens. Fails to reduce violence. Iraq in 2007, despite General David Petraeus’s false claims that things are getting better, remains more violent than at comparable periods in 2006.
September 2007: Violence drops in Iraq due to Sadr declaring a cease-fire.
March 2008: As violence increases again in Iraq, Bush cultists point to Sadr’s despair as some kind of good sign even though Sadr basically gets to decide what the violence levels in Iraq are.

I don’t like Sadr but I sort of understand his depression; the fact that his cease-fire is being used to justify the failed surge, and therefore the U.S. presence that is fueling the civil war, must be depressing. He has a choice: either end the cease-fire and cause the civil war to get worse, or continue the cease-fire and give the Americans an excuse to pretend that the “surge is working” and therefore they must stay.

The best thing, of course, would be to use Sadr’s cease fire as an excuse for a U.S. withdrawal. But since Bush is committed to American defeat (”defeat” being defined here as keeping the Iraqi civil war going forever), that will never happen.

amazed it’s taken this long, though CK has most of it …

as soon as they think they can take credit for it.

When John McCain beats them, perhaps.