As Iraqi Refugees Return, So Does Ethnic Cleansing

clipped from www.mcclatchydc.com Many Iraqi families have returned to their old homes in peace, but a disturbing trend already is emerging: They're being targeted and attacked, and in some cases killed, for trying to go home. Some have been threatened. Others have found explosives tied to their front doors. Some have had their homes blown up. Corinne Reilly / MCT A young girl and her brother have lived in an abandoned building in Karrada for five years. | View larger image The trend, along with an uptick in sectarian and ethnic violence in northern Iraq and growing tensions among rival Shiite factions in the south, is a worrisome development for American political and military leaders who're increasingly eager to declare victory in Iraq so more U.S. troops can be sent to Afghanistan. Sectarian cleansing has helped to reduce the violence in Iraq to a four-year low, but the small number of returnees who've been targeted so far could be a warning that the violence could return, too.

So much for the "the surge worked" triumphalism. Still, as the single-issue media focuses on the election, don't look for stories like this to go very far. Bush and McCain and the rest of the pro-war pols will be able to repeat their lie with almost complete impunity.