Friday, February 11, 2005

February a Quiet Month?

So far, therethere have been only 16 coalition fatalities in Iraq this February (12 hostile, 4 non-hostile).

On the other hand, there is a lot of violence against Iraqis, much of it directed against those who want to sign up for the new security forces, and some of it directed against Shia (presumably by Sunnis), although I'm certain that Fox News will tell us that the violence is just directed against Iraqis as a whole for being so virtuous and democratic-minded.

I have a feeling that the general spin will be that this shows the insurgents' true colors, that the war is now being taken up against the Iraqis (who were always the targets thus showing how beneficient and pro-Iraqi we are and how anti-Iraqi the insurgents are, (so see, it was a liberation, there is no occupation, and the Iraqis love us except for those pesky Syrians and Iranians coming across the border).

The more realistic explanation is that we have pulled back to reduce our casualties, and the Iraqis are bearing the brunt of the chaos that results, either from Sunni terrorists looking to start a civil war, or from insurgents looking to kill the Iraqi National Guard as collaborators.

Fatalities dropped markedly last February, too. It didn't change anything long-term.

That is all.

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