U. S. Fatalities- What does the data imply?
How do we know how things are really going on in Iraq? We are fed many lies by those having a strong position on either side. But we have little data except the death toll for U.S. Servicemen and Servicewomen. The data drips out daily. A few deaths daily and sometimes weekly deaths are summarized on programs like ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. But it doesn't show trends. It does remind us all of the sacrifice made and the families living with grief as their lives will never be the same.
So here is some data to ponder:
Month/Yr, # Fatalities, Month/Yr, # Fatalities, 2 Month totals
Dec. 03, 40, Jan. 04, 47, 87
Dec. 04, 72, Jan. 05, 107, 179
Dec. 05, 68, Jan. 06, 62, 130
Dec. 06, 112, Jan. 07, 84, 196
If you look down the 2 month totals these past 2 months, which are not quite over, represent the largest death totals since the beginning of the war. The single largest month where Iraqi's died was Feb. 2006, which was when the Shiite Golden Dome Mosque was blown up. This began the Civil War in Iraq and sectarian violence.
In a few days we enter that religious month again with its respective holy days. Will the surge help in the next 30-60 days? Probably not because we won't have the troops in place in time to stop this expected violence. Why don't we have them there now? The facts are that the Iraq Study Groups report was actually done before the Nov. elections and much leaked to the press in advance. Both the President and VP knew what the report contained. Did they act quickly in response to the recommendations when they knew of their recommendations? No! Did they wait and "think about the findings for a while? Yes, about 3-5 weeks. Did they change their strategy in light of their recommendations? No again. So that's where we are. Much time has been lost. Even if President Bush and VP Cheney had decided to stay the course and increase troops, they could have issued the orders after the Nov. 7th election and the troops would be in place by now.
Sad days ahead indeed, compliments of the Bush/Cheney Administration.
So here is some data to ponder:
If you look down the 2 month totals these past 2 months, which are not quite over, represent the largest death totals since the beginning of the war. The single largest month where Iraqi's died was Feb. 2006, which was when the Shiite Golden Dome Mosque was blown up. This began the Civil War in Iraq and sectarian violence.
In a few days we enter that religious month again with its respective holy days. Will the surge help in the next 30-60 days? Probably not because we won't have the troops in place in time to stop this expected violence. Why don't we have them there now? The facts are that the Iraq Study Groups report was actually done before the Nov. elections and much leaked to the press in advance. Both the President and VP knew what the report contained. Did they act quickly in response to the recommendations when they knew of their recommendations? No! Did they wait and "think about the findings for a while? Yes, about 3-5 weeks. Did they change their strategy in light of their recommendations? No again. So that's where we are. Much time has been lost. Even if President Bush and VP Cheney had decided to stay the course and increase troops, they could have issued the orders after the Nov. 7th election and the troops would be in place by now.
Sad days ahead indeed, compliments of the Bush/Cheney Administration.
posted by Charles Amico at 11:38 AM
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