RSS 2.0
Troop Deaths Drop due to . . . The Surge!!
While “analysts” ponder what has caused it, American troop deaths have dropped by half since the surge began in June.
Meanwhile, most fifth graders have figured out why troop deaths have gone down as we have taken the fight to the enemy.
U.S. combat deaths in Iraq are down since troop buildup
By NANCY A. YOUSSEF
McClatchy NewspapersWASHINGTON–American combat deaths in Iraq have dropped by half in the three months since the buildup of troops reached full strength, surprising analysts.
U.S. officials had predicted that the increase of 28,000 troops would lead to higher American casualties. That hasn’t happened, even though U.S. forces have launched major offensives involving thousands of troops near Baghdad.
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.
What an inane statement. The next logical question would be: what would make the “insurgents or militiamen” choose a different battlefield? The only answer is that we are destroying them on the current ones.
“Nobody here is doing cartwheels yet,†said one senior military official at the Pentagon.
A British analyst suggested that the lower numbers may mean that American troops are irrelevant to the many conflicts racking Iraq: ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods in Baghdad, massive bombings of religious minorities by Sunni Muslim extremists in northern Iraq, and Shiite-on-Shiite violence in southern Iraq.
Instead, he suggested, Iraq’s armed factions and politicians already are thinking beyond the troop buildup.
“Everyone is preparing for what happens after U.S. forces leave,” said James Denselow, an Iraq specialist at the London-based Chatham House, a foreign affairs research institute.
Who is James Denselow? He is a board member with the CAABU, Council for Arab-British Understanding:
Who we are?
CAABU was formed in July 1967. It came into being because of a feeling in Britain that more positive steps needed to be taken to strengthen the links - political, economical and cultural - with the peoples of the Arab world.Our Aims
On its inauguration the following outline of the aims and objects of CAABU was drawn up by its founders:We believe that the need for mutual understanding and sympathy between the people of Britain and the people of the Arab world was never more vital than at the present time.
Britain and the Arabs have a long tradition of mutual respect and friendship; they have much to admire in each other’s way of life and the principles to which both peoples adhere.
We have sympathy for the aspirations, achievements and rights of the Arab peoples, especially the Arabs of Palestine, for whose administration Britain was responsible until 1948, and whose case must not be permitted to go by default.
In a changing world, British opinion can contribute much to relieving the tensions and causes of distress in the Middle East by demonstrating understanding and a concern for justice, and by urging appropriate action.
I guess it would have been too much trouble for the reporter to point out that Mr. Denselow is a member of this group who thinks the best way to deal with radical Islamic jihadists is to talk more with them. The group was founded in 1967. Since that time, Britain has raised an entire generation of home-grown Islamic terrorists.
Supporters of the troop increase say the lower casualty figures show that the larger number of troops and the counterinsurgency approach of Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, have turned Iraqi citizens against armed groups, putting them on the run and fracturing them.
“The population is progressively turning to coalition and Iraqi forces and making a positive difference in bringing security to their towns, villages and neighborhoods. They are pointing out extremist leaders, identifying caches and IEDs (improvised explosive devices), and asking to be a part of the legitimate Iraqi security force,” Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 commander, said in August.
Others, however, noted that as U.S. combat deaths have dropped, deaths among Iraqi civilians have remained constant, and the “ethnic cleansing†of Baghdad’s neighborhoods has continued almost unabated.
While the Shiite Mahdi Army militia has lowered its profile in the capital, it has battled the rival Badr Organization of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council for control of southern Iraq. Two southern provincial governors have been assassinated, many allege by the Mahdi Army. In northern Iraq, suspected Sunni insurgents killed more than 400 people in a coordinated attack on two villages.
“We know a lot of them have left Baghdad,” the senior Pentagon official said.
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. Supporters say the figure shows that Iraqis are moving toward supporting the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Most agree that a second reason for the decline is the dramatic change of conditions in Anbar province, where former Sunni insurgents have teamed up with American troops to rid the province of the group al-Qaida in Iraq. About one-third of U.S. casualties have been in Anbar province, but that has shifted since the troop increase began. In August, about 10 percent of U.S. casualties occurred there, compared with 30 percent in January, when the buildup began.
Shiites are fighting each other for control of the southern provinces. Some Pentagon commanders have told McClatchy Newspapers that they think that rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army left Baghdad before the troop increase began to fight in the south.
Throughout the buildup, al-Sadr has issued statements discouraging his followers from attacking American forces and Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone.
Publicly, officials say that the drop in U.S. deaths is a combination of all these factors.
“I think the surge forces have clearly contributed to security,” said Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman. “They’ve created a climate in which people feel more comfortable cooperating with American forces. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of tips about insurgent activities, which has allowed us to stop and pre-empt attacks before they take place. I think you’re also seeing an increasingly capable Iraqi security forces.”
Did some run before we got there? Probably the smart ones did. Others were killed or captured, or they’re still on the run.
In May, when four of the five additional brigades were in Baghdad, there were 123 combat deaths.
By June the number fell to 93, then to 66 in July and to 57 in August, according to the Web site iCasualties.org.