Osama says Al-Qaeda in Iraq is beat.
The numbers say Al-Qaeda in Iraq is beat:
But... Democrats say the US is failing.
(They said that today, by the way.)
Democrats are already in a panic--
Today's news won't help them any.
The Iraqi Government announced today that violent deaths in Iraq are down.
Aswat Al-Iraq reported:
Baghdad, Nov 1, (VOI) - Iraqi civilian casualties significantly dropped in October 2007, a month in which U.S. casualties also declined and Iraqi security forces' fatalities increased, according to joint statistics by the Iraqi ministries of interior, health, and defense.This follows the news yesterday that US deaths in Iraq were down:
"A total of 758 civilians were killed in October, down from 844 in September 2007," according to official figures received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
U.S. casualties also declined. Tallies of U.S. deaths reported 36 fatalities in October, compared to 66 in September. October's total is the lowest since March 2006, when only 33 U.S. troops were reported dead.
"Casualties among Iraqi police forces rose from 62 to 117 but dropped among army personnel from 16 to 13 during the same period," official figures read.
Regarding the number of detainees held in Iraqi prisons, reports said that 1,427 were arrested in October, down from 1,514 in September.
The US death toll in Iraq fell to its lowest level in nearly two years in October.
More... Michael Totten has another essay on his stay in Iraq.
Here's a good line:
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Silverman... defended the media’s often negative coverage point blank when I asked him what he thought of it. “It’s true that the media doesn’t have the same agenda in Iraq that we do,” he said, “but I’m not sure it’s the media’s job to have the same agenda in Iraq that we do.”True.
STILL MORE... The War In Iraq Has Been Won:
Iraq's official estimate of civilian deaths from violence is now about 25 a day.
In South Africa, with twice the population, the official murder toll is 52 a day. That's a rate of killing equal to Iraq's.
I am a contrarian on the lack of media coverage. It really doesn't matter and if anything in the end it will help the Reps. The numbers don't lie and they continue to drop. Thus, whatever the media is or isn't reporting the reality is we are winning and the numbers will continue to drop. We have over a year until the election. If the numbers keep dropping then eventually our casualties monthly will drop into single digits. Are Dems going to cry that we are losing when we have a handful of deaths a month. Of course, they are tragic however they don't amount to anything but a strategic victory.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, remember that Petraeus comes back in March. That will garner media attention. He will present the reality of the situation on the ground. By then, our progress will be significant. They can continue to spin all they want in the meantime, the truth will arrive sooner or later.
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ReplyDeleteif the outcomes of wars were determined by losses.. then there would be no such country as The United States of America (not to mention France, Spain, England, etc, etc, etc)..
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With a monolithic media in the US and most of the western world, it takes longer for the message to get out and even then its penetration is greatly reduced.
ReplyDeleteI would quibble with LTC Silverman on the media thing. While I wouldn't expect the media to share the Army's agenda, I would at least expect some acknoledgement of that agenda and perhaps an attempt to mute their own.
SECURING, STABILIZING, AND REBUILDING IRAQ
ReplyDeleteGAO Audits and Key Oversight Issues
For Release on Delivery Expected at 2:00 p.m. EDT
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
-Iraq has not yet advanced key legislation on equitably sharing oil revenues and holding provincial elections. In addition, sectarian influences within the Iraqi ministries continue while militia influences divide the loyalties of Iraqi security forces.
- Key U.S. efforts to stabilize and rebuild Iraq lack strategies with clear purpose, scope, roles, responsibilities, and performance measures. The weaknesses in U.S. strategic planning are compounded by the Iraqi government’s lack of integrated strategic planning in its critical energy sector.
- The U.S. strategy assumed that the Iraqi government and international community funds would help finance Iraq’s development needs. However, the Iraqi government has limited capacity to spend reconstruction funds.
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ReplyDeletere: Democrats say the US is failing.
"do nothing president"??
Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!
could swear he was being held responsible for everything from the so called big bang to global warming on Mars, not to mention the pending Amageddon!!
they also suq at reverse psychology, too freakin' funny!!
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Apparently Iraq isn't the ONLY place where the war on terror is being successful...
ReplyDeleteThanks to a link by from Strata - Sphere we have this that ran in of all places the New York Times: Afghan officials said 50 Taliban fighters had been killed in the clashes and described the Taliban withdrawal as a major government victory. “They have received heavy casualties, faced humiliation, and they are gone,” said the governor of Kandahar Province, Assadullah Khalid, who led the tour.
I guess the age of miracles isn't over yet...
Well maybe there a need to panic after all and it isn't in Iraq...
ReplyDeleteAccording to the FBI's 2006 Crime Clock there was a murder in this country about every thirty one minutes...
What's interesting to note according to this USA Today story is that Blue State Urban Areas saw a jump in the numbers...
"New York reported 579 homicides through Dec. 24 — a nearly 10% increase from the year before"...
Funny but I don't hear a thing from Schumer or Clinton on this?
"In Chicago, homicides through the first 11 months of the year were up 3.3% compared with the same period in 2005, reversing a four-year decline"...
Hmmm, how come Durbin the Turban isn't calling for gulags for these murderers?
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ReplyDeleteHT : Louise @ ITM
There is No Trend
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