thanks for that second link.. i like numbers, tells more than what any reporter can conjure up.
there's definitely a clear trend in the insurrectionists' strengths. if you compare both the trends seen in soldiers killed and wounded, it's clear that we're increasingly under attack. or just go to page 14 and it's crystal clear. plus, our target goal of trained iraqi troops is only 1/3 complete.. amazing. and even if you include all the military forces, we aren't even close to 50% yet. then you got the socio-economic numbers. the current availability of electricity is about 50% of
pre-war levels. same holds for oil - ironic how a country awash in oil would have oil shortages. their dinar has been pummelled (since we allowed it to be traded on the FX market), being devalued by some 40% - imagine what that must be doing to inflation! and 30-40% unemployment = LOTS of people available to join the insurgency. and those polls... especially the sunni areas..
when you have a 20% approval rating, no jobs, no electricity and inflation up the ass - it's clear that no amount of wishful thinking will cause improvement in the sunni regions. nor will continued aggression on our part.
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It's axiomatic among military thinkers that insurgencies are especially hard to defeat because the insurgents' goal isn't to win in a conventional sense but merely to survive until the will of the occupying power is sapped. Recent polls already suggest an erosion of support among Americans for the war.
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no doubt about that. these sunnis loathe us, and the reality is that they will continue to fight until we leave. one thing that troubles me is that bush has no regard for public support, and now he doesn't even need it. not to mention that the party faithful give him kudos when he does, what he proclaims as "doing what's right", against voices of criticism or reason. he's looking to win his legacy in these four years, and for that we should be very afraid.
i'm stuck on the notion that he will use iraq and afghanistan as staging grounds for invading iran..