KIA Resume in Iraq

I am a fool. I watched with some excitement when the first week in March showed 0 deaths for U.S. troops in Iraq. As each day ended and there wound up being just 1 death in the period when there should have been 7 or 8. I thought we had really turned a corner. Between Al Sadr calling off his attacks on the U.S. last year, and the 10's of millions we are paying everyone else not to attack. I thought maybe Iraq was stabilizing, here in the 5th year. To me the drop in violence was a implicit argument for withdrawal. I have argued against the need to leave troops in Iraq, that Iraq would devolve into peace, not civil war.

I felt smacked in the face when I read about the IED attack that killed 8 just the other day. Catching the body count up to exactly where it should be. I was a fool. Payments or not, with such available targets, and so much anger due to the complete screw up of the counter insurgency to date. The high altitude bombings, random shootings of civilians, outright racism and general lack of a strategy there, show there is no end in sight.

This is just a waste of lives. Whether it is 3 a day like last year or just 1 a day like this one. The Iraqi government has not, can not, take control. Basra is a security nightmare they seem incapable of solving. The whole exercise is just Bush doubling down day after day. Somebody needs to call the pit boss.