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In spite of elections, constitution, more elections, promises by VP Cheney, the insurgency continues to kill Iraqis and Americans. Excepts; link below; my emphasis.
"It was another grim week in Iraq, with more massive attacks inflicting casualties on Iraqi civilians and security forces alike, and U.S. fatalities rising again, with little, if any signs of significant progress.
The total number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq through Monday, Jan. 17 since the start of U.S. operations to topple Saddam Hussein on March 19, 2003, was 2,242 according to official figures issued by the Department of Defense, a rise of 33 in only seven days, and an average of 4.7 soldiers killed per day. This was even worse than the figure of 28 in the previous seven-day period when the average death rate was 4 U.S. soldiers killed per day.
These figures unfortunately confirm that the revived high casualty figures of the previous week were no fluke: After more than two-and-a-half years of activity and of Department of Defense and U.S. military studies and implemented plans, the Iraq Sunni insurgency remains undiminished in its lethal capabilities. Contrary to repeated Bush administration predictions, the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections in Iraq did nothing to drain support from the insurgency."
"The total number of Iraqi police and military killed from June 1, 2003, to Jan. 16, 2005, was 3,977, according to the Iraq Index Project figures. The longer-term monthly trends on Iraqi security forces killed also showed a discouraging rise: For the first half of January through Jan. 16, 108 of them were killed by insurgents. If maintained for the rest of this month, that would give a total casualty figure of around 210-215 Iraqi security forces killed, a significant rise on the 193 killed during December and a rise of more than 15 percent on the 176 killed in November."
"In the first 16 days of January, 231 people were killed in these attacks and another 326 wounded. These figures were far worse than for the entire month of December, a period twice as long. Through the 31 days of December, MFB attacks killed 155 people and wounded 174. "
"Those figures, therefore, would -- if true -- mean that the insurgency had lost 60 percent of its active manpower in only five months, a rate of attrition that has only been seen historically in the closing stages of counter-insurgency operations when the guerrilla movement is literally disintegrated and rapidly losing its ability to inflict casualties.
There has so far been no sign of that process so far in Iraq and almost no respected U.S. military analyst believes it is happening. 2,000 per month revised figure for October through December, like the 3,000 per month figure for August and September, therefore appears to be little more than guesswork. "
"It was another grim week in Iraq, with more massive attacks inflicting casualties on Iraqi civilians and security forces alike, and U.S. fatalities rising again, with little, if any signs of significant progress.
The total number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq through Monday, Jan. 17 since the start of U.S. operations to topple Saddam Hussein on March 19, 2003, was 2,242 according to official figures issued by the Department of Defense, a rise of 33 in only seven days, and an average of 4.7 soldiers killed per day. This was even worse than the figure of 28 in the previous seven-day period when the average death rate was 4 U.S. soldiers killed per day.
These figures unfortunately confirm that the revived high casualty figures of the previous week were no fluke: After more than two-and-a-half years of activity and of Department of Defense and U.S. military studies and implemented plans, the Iraq Sunni insurgency remains undiminished in its lethal capabilities. Contrary to repeated Bush administration predictions, the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections in Iraq did nothing to drain support from the insurgency."
"The total number of Iraqi police and military killed from June 1, 2003, to Jan. 16, 2005, was 3,977, according to the Iraq Index Project figures. The longer-term monthly trends on Iraqi security forces killed also showed a discouraging rise: For the first half of January through Jan. 16, 108 of them were killed by insurgents. If maintained for the rest of this month, that would give a total casualty figure of around 210-215 Iraqi security forces killed, a significant rise on the 193 killed during December and a rise of more than 15 percent on the 176 killed in November."
"In the first 16 days of January, 231 people were killed in these attacks and another 326 wounded. These figures were far worse than for the entire month of December, a period twice as long. Through the 31 days of December, MFB attacks killed 155 people and wounded 174. "
"Those figures, therefore, would -- if true -- mean that the insurgency had lost 60 percent of its active manpower in only five months, a rate of attrition that has only been seen historically in the closing stages of counter-insurgency operations when the guerrilla movement is literally disintegrated and rapidly losing its ability to inflict casualties.
There has so far been no sign of that process so far in Iraq and almost no respected U.S. military analyst believes it is happening. 2,000 per month revised figure for October through December, like the 3,000 per month figure for August and September, therefore appears to be little more than guesswork. "