CounterSpin (2/1/08-2/7/08): Reports that the surge in Iraq "is working" are commonplace, but they rarely confront the question, "Working for whom?" In his latest piece, "Reality Is Totally Different: Iraqis on ‘Success’ and ‘Progress’ in Their Country," available at TomDispatch.com, independent journalist Dahr Jamail goes beyond the official Washington view and asks Iraqis how the surge is working for them.

Dahr Jamail
Dahr Jamail is the Baghdad correspondent for The NewStandard. Jamail, a political activist from Anchorage, Alaska, first traveled to Iraq in November 2003 to write about the effects of the US occupation on the Iraqi people. After nine weeks covering Iraq under occupation, he returned to the US and addressed audiences in Alaska and the Northeast about his experience. He has recently returned to Iraq in order to continue reporting on US occupation and privatization. You can view his dispatches and articles at http://newstandardnews.net/iraq.