U.S. Fatalities for the first 2 weeks of August
U.S. Fatalities for the first 2 weeks in August totaled 41. Previously reported was fact that he first week of August had 21. However, as I have always focused on U.S. Fatalities, one must not forget of the tremendous loss of life of Iraqis in the past few days, with over 500 killed as a result of several coordinated car bombs.
It seems most probable that this August numbers will have more U.S. fatalities than last year, and possibly all 3 other years but I pray not. Here's the data for all of August for the past 3 years:
Aug. 2006 65
Aug. 2005 85
Aug. 2004 66
It seems most probable that this August numbers will have more U.S. fatalities than last year, and possibly all 3 other years but I pray not. Here's the data for all of August for the past 3 years:
Aug. 2006 65
Aug. 2005 85
Aug. 2004 66
Labels: August, Iraqis, U.S. Fatalities
posted by Charles Amico at 6:05 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Charles,
Although I see Saddam being removed as a good thing, I was quite apprehensive about opening up two fronts in the War On Terror, from a both a strategic and tactical standpoint. I am not one that is criticizing Bush for doing what he did, just how he has done it.
After many mistakes, there is a concern that we have missed out moment of opportunity to do this the right way. I could write an entire post on those mistakes. But let's just say, I would have done things a bit differently.
The thing that concerns me in the here and now is, we are seeing signs (and have been for awhile now) that the Iraqi government is not going to step up. I am not sure that the Iraqi people are able to adjust to freedom very well, so they are not holding their government accountable for the lack of effort on their part.
Which brings us to the numbers you cite. I have been skeptical of how the surge is going to play out, but have been willing to give it a chance. Despite the fact this thing started off as what I perceive to be a noble gesture, it doesn't appear to be successful at this stage of the game. And the surge doesn't appear to be working well.
The bottom line to all this is, either you go to war to win, or you do not go at all. And if you truly expect to win, you must plan accordingly, to include planning if things do not go well. I do not think we've done that very well.
We had too long of "stay the course". Had we changed directions sooner, we might have had better success in what we are trying to do. Of course, there's no guarantee that would have happened. But by waiting until now to re-adjust strategy, we may have missed our chance of realizing some level of success.
Good blog, sir. I will be back.
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