Murdoch Pro-War Propagandist Retreats From Claims War In Iraq Has Been "Won"

Andrew Bolt : Did I Say "Won"? I Meant "Going Well"

By Darryl Mason

In early November last year, Murdoch media columnist Andrew Bolt proudly declared that "The War In Iraq Has Been Won".

The Orstrahyun covered Bolt's moronic declaration of victory in Iraq here.

After a six week long holiday, Bolt has returned to declare again that the War In Iraq Is Now Won.

It's easy, wrote Bolt last Sunday, "to publicly back George Bush now that the war in Iraq is won."

But a few hours later, Bolt had a sudden and dramatic change of heart about whether the Iraq War has actually been won or not.

Bolt pulled the last Sunday blog post with the big fat "Iraq War Is Now Won" headline and deleted all traces of it from his blog and newspaper archive. However, it's still listed on the Google News archive. When you click the link, you get nothing.

The next time Bolt referred to Iraq, on Monday, he claimed that Iraq has been secured, and its democracy and thousands of Iraqis lives saved, all thanks to the Bush troop surge. But he didn't say the war has been won. Instead he says it is, simply, "going well".

So why has Bolt backed down on his claim that the Iraq War has been "won", and decided to delete all traces of his most recent post referring to a "won" war in Iraq?

Perhaps he wasn't paying attention, while on his six week long holiday, to the relentless death, destruction and horror in Iraq since he last declared the Iraq War had been won.

In his Herald Sun newspaper column of November 2, 2007, Bolt claimed the Iraq War had been "won", in part, because the monthly toll of Iraqi civilian and coalition soldier deaths had dramatically decreased :

Just 27 American soldiers were killed in action in Iraq in October - the lowest monthly figure since March last year.

The number of Iraqi civilians killed last month - mostly by Islamist and fascist terrorists - was around 760, according to Iraqi Government sources.

In the eleven weeks since Bolt's insidious pro-war echoing of NeoCon propaganda was excreted into the public debate, more than 3600 Iraqis have died after being shot, blown up, beheaded, drowned or tortured, beaten, burned or stabbed to death (according to this archive). More than 7000 more Iraqis have been wounded in hundreds of terror attacks.

In those same eleven weeks since Bolt last declared "The War In Iraq Has Been Won" (without deleting the claim), more than 100 coalition soldiers have lost their lives (mostly Americans), with hundreds more wounded, many left permanently disabled.

Winning the war in Iraq sure has led to a lot of killing and torture, shattered American military families and Iraqi children having their arms, legs and genitals blown off.

I've put the question to Mr Bolt on why he has decided to un-declare the Iraq War has been "won" and is now only "going well" and I will update this story with Mr Bolt's response, if any.

UPDATE : No response from Andrew Bolt on why he has backed down so dramatically on how the Iraq War has been "won", but he has mentioned Iraq again today, and reveals the Bush (and Howard?) troop surge strategy is "bearing fruit" and that Al Qaeda has been defeated. His hero George W. Bush would thoroughly disagree with Bolt on that claim.

To recap Bolt on Iraq :

November, 2007 - "Troop Surge Brilliance Means We've Won The War In Iraq"

January, 2008 - "Troop Surge Bearing Fruit"

UPDATE : Still no response from Bolt, which is strange. Usually he leaps on any chance to exercise his right of reply. Not this time, however. Is this truth too hard to refute?