The U.S. military reported the deaths of nine soldiers yesterday - including seven killed in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad. Along with those deaths - reported on Monday night and confirmed Tuesday - at least 13 more U.S. soldiers were reported injured.

The number of U.S. occupation troops killed in Iraq now totals 3,774.

American casualties are higher in 2007. In fact, U.S. deaths each month so far in 2007 have been at greater numbers than each of those same months last year, in 2006.

Violence remains staggeringly high across the country amid no signs of political reconciliation, or even any political work being attempted or accomplished. Some believe that General Petraeus is using cherry-picked intelligence and misleading statistics to make the case for keeping our troops in Iraq for many more years.

"Recent estimates by the media, outside groups and some government agencies have called the military's findings into question. The Associated Press last week counted 1,809 civilian deaths in August, making it the highest monthly total this year..." (Washington Post)

"This year's U.S. troop buildup has succeeded in bringing violence in Baghdad down from peak levels, but the death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago." (Associated Press)

"Bombings, sectarian slayings and other violence related to the war killed at least 1,773 Iraqi civilians in August, the second month in a row that civilian deaths have risen, according to government figures obtained Friday." (LA Times)

The violence in Iraq has resulted in a large number of Iraqis displaced from their homes... Widespread violence across Iraq has seriously compromised the government's ability to protect human rights. According to the United Nations, attacks against religious and ethnic minorities continued unabated in most areas of Iraq, prompting these communities to seek ways to leave the country. The conflicts reportedly bear the mark of sectarian polarization and "cleansing" in neighborhoods formerly comprised of different religions. According to a non-governmental organization, all of Iraq's minority communities have suffered violations that include destruction and defacement of religious buildings; mass murder of congregations gathered in and around them; abduction, randsoming, and murder of religious and civic leaders and individuals including children. (pages 51 and 62, Government Accountability Office, GAO Report, August 2007)

The "level of overall violence, including attacks on and casualties among civilians remains high" and "Iraq's sectarian groups remain unreconciled."...Population displacement resulting from sectarian violence continues, imposing burdens on provincial governments and some neighboring states and increasing the danger of destabilizing influences across Iraq's borders over the next six to 12 months. (pages 1 and 3, National Intelligence Estimate, NIE Report, August 2007)

A group of infantrymen and officers of the 82nd Airborne Division wrote an op-ed in the New York Times on August 19, 2007, saying that they are "skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable." Reports of progress, they say, have "neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day." These brave infantrymen wrote:

In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are - an army of occupation - and force our withdrawal.

Despite this lack of progress, both Petraeus and Crocker told Congress that we need to have a long-term goal for continued occupation of Iraq. This includes the general's announcement yesterday that he would decide by March 2008 when troop levels could drop below 130,000 - effectively setting a new deadline for the military and essentially setting out a "stay the course" continuation of our involvement in Iraq.

Petraeus displayed a chart indicating a series of possible troop reductions in coming years. Both Petraeus and Crocker said it would be possible for the United States to stabilize Iraq. But they cautioned that progress would require a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq.

Gen. David Petraeus told a congressional delegation visiting the Middle East just last week that success in Iraq will require a U.S. military presence there for about a decade.

The problem with the Petraeus and Crocker presentation is this - they want to simply begin considering reducing troops to "pre-surge" levels sometime next year. That's nothing. That can't even be considered a reduction.

The war that they seem to want us to buy from them is one that goes on and on and on, without end.

With more than 160,000 American troops now in Iraq, the possible withdrawal in January 2008 of one brigade, roughly 3,500 to 4,500 troops, would not amount to anything. And, would still be tens of thousands of more troops in Iraq than one one year ago.

There are now some 20 American combat brigades in Iraq. Administration officials have signaled that even the most aggressive drawdown being contemplated by the White House would leave at least 10 combat brigades in Iraq by the end of 2008, down from the 15 in place before the troop increase began. (New York Times)

What? This means that, at a minimum, the surged levels of troops that Bush implemented in January will have persisted for 18 months or more.

This is not a reduction. This is not a draw-down. If by the end of next summer, our troop levels are only at the level that they were at last summer, where's the troop reduction? There is none.

It's not working now. It hasn't worked for 4.5 years. The best plan for moving forward cannot be just a repeat of these failed strategies.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) suggested that despite security improvements, the troop buildup had not achieved its larger goals. "We should temper enthusiasm by remembering: This is Iraq, and nothing has been easy there," Skelton said.

When the buildup was announced this year, administration and military leaders said its purpose was to improve security so that political progress could take place.

Goals outlined by the administration were codified by Congress into 18 political and military benchmarks.

In July, the White House reported that fewer than half of the benchmarks showed satisfactory progress. The Government Accountability Office said this month that the Iraqi government had met only three benchmarks.

"Mr. Ambassador," Skelton asked, "why should we in Congress expect the next six months to be any different than it has been in the past?" (LA Times)

And, what about the Iraqis themselves? They have endured so much loss in the last four years. A huge displacement and ethnic cleansing of innocent Iraqis has progressed unabated.

Thousands of other Sunnis like Kamal have been cleared out of the western half of Baghdad, which they once dominated, in recent months. The surge of U.S. troops - meant in part to halt the sectarian cleansing of the Iraqi capital - has hardly stemmed the problem. The number of Iraqi civilians killed in July was slightly higher than in February, when the surge began. According to the Iraqi Red Crescent, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has more than doubled to 1.1 million since the beginning of the year, nearly 200,000 of those in Baghdad governorate alone. Rafiq Tschannen, chief of the Iraq mission for the International Organization for Migration, says that the fighting that accompanied the influx of U.S. troops actually "has increased the IDPs to some extent." (Newsweek)

A national survey of Iraqi public opinion conducted by ABC News, BBC, and Japanese broadcaster NHK found that 70 percent of Iraqis report Bush's escalation has "worsened rather than improved security." (for pictures of the survey being conducted, click here)

Barely a quarter of Iraqis say their security has improved in the past six months, a negative assessment of the surge in U.S. forces that reflects worsening public attitudes across a range of measures, even as authorities report some progress curtailing violence.

Seventy-eight percent say "things are going badly," a jump of 13 points since the surge began. Almost eighty percent of Iraqis oppose the presence of U.S. forces.

More than six in 10 now call the U.S.-led invasion of their country wrong, up from 52
percent last winter. Fifty-seven percent call violence against U.S. forces acceptable, up
six points. And despite the uncertainties of what might follow, 47 percent now favor the
immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq - a 12-point rise.

Overall assessments of security show no improvement since last winter, and direct ratings of the surge are highly negative.

In Baghdad, 52 percent report car bombings or suicide attacks in their local area, the same as in March; but so do 39 percent in the country, up from 26 percent six months ago.

Accounts of other forms of violence - such as snipers or crossfire, kidnappings for ransom and sectarian or factional fighting - also remain widespread.

Across the country overall, feelings of personal safety are no better than in March; just 26 percent of Iraqis feel "very safe" in their own neighborhood. And that's almost nonexistent across Iraq's major metro areas - Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk and Mosul - where 98 percent of residents feel either "not very safe" (50 percent) or "not safe at all" (48 percent).

Life for Iraqis is not improving:

• 1.1 million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes.
• Only 50% of the Iraqi needs for electricity are being met.
• 70% of Iraqis lack adequate water supply.
• Up to 40% of Iraqis are unemployed.

Seventy-nine percent of Iraqis oppose the presence of coalition forces in the country, essentially unchanged from last winter - including more than eight in 10 Shiites and nearly all Sunni Arabs. (Seven in 10 Kurds, by contrast, still support the presence of these forces.)

Similarly, 80 percent of Iraqis disapprove of the way U.S. and other coalition forces have performed in Iraq; the only change has been an increase in negative ratings of the U.S. performance among Kurds. And 86 percent of Iraqis express little or no confidence in U.S. and U.K. forces, similar to last winter and again up among Kurds.

The Iraqi poll finds deepening dissatisfaction among the Iraqi citizens regarding conditions in Iraq, lower ratings for their confidence in their national government, and growing rejection of any U.S. role in Iraq.

So what do we do?

If we can finally agree that what we ARE DOING and what we HAVE DONE has not worked, then, we can begin with an honest and soul searching new direction. A new direction that will allow our own country to reunite again, and one that will allow Iraq to heal.

For starters, we should admit our mistakes to ourselves.

We should start by being honest, throughout our homes, schools, communities and government offices about our mistakes. The attack on Iraq was a mistake. The shock and awe bombing of families and children in Iraq was a mistake. Allowing the looting was a mistake. Turning the country over to only Shia and locking out the Sunni was the most fatal mistake because it set the stage for the current civil wars. Continuing to support a sectarian government continues to be a mistake. This recent "surge" of military strength was a mistake because it led to more Iraqi displacement, more needless dying and more sectarian resentment.

We must admit our mistakes openly.

Then, we need to admit our mistakes to the global community and to our allies.

Along with our apology and honesty, we ask for help. We need to ask for help from the international community.

I don't mean that we need to ask other countries to send troops to Iraq. I mean that we need to ask the other countries to take over and take the lead away from us.

We have proven that we should not be the leaders of the efforts in Iraq.

We need to humbly admit that we are incapable of being the leaders in this situation and, before we screw it up completely, we need to allow others to lead.

We need reconciliation and so do the Iraqi people.

Our credibility is lost with the global community, with our own citizens here in the U.S. and especially with the Iraqis.

To gain it back, we have to be honest, humble and open-minded. This is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of intelligence and strength. Above all, it's smart, and, it's the only and best move available.

By admitting our mistakes and asking for help, other nations will undoubtedly reach out. They will feel like partners at the table with us - for the first time since this debacle began.

The solutions and the collective world community will surge forth.

They've just been waiting to be asked.

It's probably the only way to save the Iraqis, to save lives, and to save ourselves.