Monday, May 17, 2004
From quagmire to quagmire
Always in search of quagmires, the media was very happy recently to move onto the prisoner abuse, just at the right moment when its previous quagmires (Fallujah and the al-Sadr uprisings) were starting to shown signs of not going as badly for the Coalition forces as the journos were hoping they would.
What's the situation on the ground in Iraq right now? Better, thanks for asking. Belmont Club, as usual, has a much more comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the situation than mainstream media.
In fact, the last article along the lines of "US casualties continue to mount" is dated 1 May. In April, as we can recall, 136 American soldiers died in action in the worst month of fighting "since the end of the major combat operations." As of 15 of this month the toll is 32 hostile fire deaths. Meanwhile, it's al-Sadr's militiamen who are continuing to take the casualties. This is not to say that quick victories are at hand, or that situation on the ground is good for the Coalition, but progress is being made.
Any suggestions for the next quagmire?
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What's the situation on the ground in Iraq right now? Better, thanks for asking. Belmont Club, as usual, has a much more comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the situation than mainstream media.
In fact, the last article along the lines of "US casualties continue to mount" is dated 1 May. In April, as we can recall, 136 American soldiers died in action in the worst month of fighting "since the end of the major combat operations." As of 15 of this month the toll is 32 hostile fire deaths. Meanwhile, it's al-Sadr's militiamen who are continuing to take the casualties. This is not to say that quick victories are at hand, or that situation on the ground is good for the Coalition, but progress is being made.
Any suggestions for the next quagmire?
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