Yesterdays Miami Herald had this stunning story:
Casualties Drop Despite U.S. Buildup
The expectation was that more American troops would be killed, especially with major offensives under way. Why it hasn't happened is in dispute.
By Nancy A. Youssef
American combat deaths in Iraq have dropped by half in the three months since the buildup of 28,000 additional U.S. troops reached full strength, surprising analysts and dividing them as to why.
U.S. officials had predicted that the personnel increase would lead to higher American casualties as the troops ''took the fight to the enemy.'' But that hasn't happened, even though U.S. forces launched major offensives involving thousands of troops north and south of Baghdad.
American combat casualties have declined to their lowest levels this year, even as violence involving Iraqis remains high.
Military officials and observers are wondering whether the lower U.S. casualties are a sign of success or an indication that insurgents and militiamen simply chose a different battlefield when the Americans mounted their offensive in Iraq's capital.
That would be GREAT!!! WOW, signs of progress!! How far did they drop?
Lets hear from Nancy on the BIG DROP!
Numbers fluctuate
In May, when four of the five additional brigades were in Baghdad, there were 123 combat deaths. The number fell to 93 in June, then to 66 in July and to 57 in August, according to the website iCasualties.org, which keeps the most up-to-date statistics on casualties in Iraq.
Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute, a Washington-area research center, warned that reducing the number of troops could lead to an increase in casualties. He said the reason for the drop could be that the size of the built-up forces intimidated Iraq's various factions.
''Ironically, we may lose fewer soldiers the more we have exposed'' to combat, Thompson said.
They are right, that is a DRAMATIC drop. Well unless you happen to be one of those "57" service members killed in Iraq but more on that in a bit. Lets go to http://icasualties.org/... and see all the happy news!
Oh no, its not happy here. Why? Because the Heralds numbers ARE MADE UP!
May - 126 (actually 131 when you include UK and "other" but lets not) and those other 3 Mrs. Youssef left off must have been a rounding error. Good that she is not upset about those 3.
June - 101.....wait, what?
July - 79.....Actually progress since it was the first month under 80 for the year!
August - 81
Hmmmmm.....81 is more than half of 126. Also, it seems in ALL of 2006 only two months (October and December) had more than 80 service members killed and in 2007 only one month hasn't. That only sounds like progress if YOU DON'T HAVE ANY SKIN IN THE FIGHT. And while we are talking about that, I am just about sick of hearing about "only" this many or "only" that many killed. Guess what, if its your friend, your family, 100% of them is DEAD. You don't get to be less dead than the month before. You don't get to have a "surprising reduction" in how dead you are. All you get to be is dead.
Why in the world would they publish numbers so wrong? This is elementary fact checking given to the newest hire. Why was it not done?
Understanding why American combat deaths are down is important because the verdict on the buildup is a driving issue in the growing domestic debate over what to do in Iraq. Opponents use the lower casualty figure to argue that American troop deaths aren't worth the security gains in Iraq, while supporters say the figure shows that Iraqis are moving toward supporting the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.
I want the editors of the Miami Herald to call the family's of all the service members killed in August, all 81 of them, and let them know it is OK because the Surge is working. Loren Thompson from the Lexington Institute can join them on conference call.
Better yet, you join up. You get off your ass, go to the recruiting station and get your butt over here. You separate from your family for years at a time. You check the web 10 times a day to see if your friends were not so lucky today. You attend a single funeral. Listen just once to taps and look the family in the eye while you hand them a flag. Or you can keep repeating LIES, DAMM LIES and Statistics.
(And I checked - "Loren" is an expert on the military who has never spent a day in uniform hence his ability to find irony in the deaths of soldiers while profiting from war. F@#K You, Loren!)