The surge, which by the administration's own criteria is faltering, has also taken a terrible human toll on Iraqis and our own servicemen and women.

This video by the Guardian is a must see. The upshot is that a strike by (formerly) pro-American members of an Awakening council in Diyala reveals a country-wide frustration with the US, even among its allies. The men of Diyala say they have not received pay they were promised, and feel that the US does not appreciate the sacrifices they have made for the surge. They have buried over 400 of their own, and now some feel they are just being manipulated to advance an American political agenda. Of 49 groups the Guardian spoke with across Iraq, most reported not being paid. In Hillah, discontented fighters spoke of organizing a nation-wide strike.

Given the history of America's alliances of convenience with groups from the mujahideen in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion to the contras in Nicaragua, I have often felt cynical about our approach during the surge, wondering whether we were simply buying off enemies, moving the goalposts, and declaring victory. But it's more than that. The video reminds me that many of our new allies are ordinary people who have lost much during the occupation, including livelihoods and family members. The cynicism of the Bush administration is not necessarily reflected in the choices these men make - a fact that will make our betrayals all the more bitter for them. If the Guardian's report is true, we are not just failing our allies, but are also poised to create fierce new enemies.

Watching the video, I was also struck by footage of an American captain. For me, what I saw in his face and heard in his voice was nothing more or less than intense fatigue. I was reminded of the observation some have made during the war, namely that a number of mid-ranking officers in this war have now seen much more combat than those of their superiors who advanced through the ranks during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. The cynicism of the administration is also not reflected in the quiet courage of many of those men and women, caught between unreasonable policies coming from the top and the brutal realities on the ground. Maybe I am reading too much into his words, but something about the officer's quiet resignation caught my ear (transcription mine):

"If they quit, then it appears that the public is quitting with them. And then it's all reliant on the government of Iraq to provide security. That is something that we hope does not happen. We hope the CLCs continue to work, provide security for their area, their neighborhoods, so we can all work together on one front, to maintain security in Diyala and Iraq."

Behind the measured calm of these words, I hear some real pessimism.

The unstable, violent atmosphere is taking a toll across the board. IRIN provides a perspective on the other side of the equation: the militants who, under pressure, only become more desperate.

Military operations aimed at ejecting them from their strongholds and paralysing their activities are ongoing, Hazim Jawad Yousif, a Baghdad-based security analyst told IRIN, but he warned: “It is like a balloon filled with water. When you press it on one side the water moves to the other.”

“They [militants] will spare no effort to prove that they are still a hardened number in Iraq’s security equation, and that they have the ability to strike anywhere they want with any tool even if it is by using children, women or disabled persons,” Yousif, a retired army major-general, said.

Yousif said militants had now resorted to training women as suicide bombers to penetrate security checkpoints by exploiting Muslim sensitivities which prevent women from being searched by men.

The militants are determined to get their own way and will stop at nothing to achieve their aims: If necessary they will use disabled persons or even children to help launch attacks, he said.

The American military cannot afford to ignore the complaints of the men who have fought these militants, especially if thousands have lost their lives simply to help squeeze water around in a balloon.

The issue of missing pay and unfair treatment of allies cuts to the foundational premise of the surge: the idea that new tactics and strategies are working in Iraq. How can these tactics or strategies prove effective when the mentality behind them remains unchanged? Are the same people who neglect to pay their own allies not drawing on the same mentality that has characterized the war from the beginning - the mentality that shut down spontaneous expressions of Iraqi democracy in the aftermath of invasion, allowed contractors to operate without oversight, and created conditions under which systemic torture flourished? The surge clearly represents only a minor break with the past, if at all.

The fatigue of our troops, the disillusionment of our soon-to-be-former allies, and the radicalization of militants stand out as some of the best reasons to withdraw from Iraq. As has been the story there so often since 2003, every short-term gain conceals the gestation of another long-term problem. The more time that passes, the more evidence indicates that the sick and arrogant mentality behind the war will continue to corrode everything it touches in Iraq. The face behind the makeup is still ugly.