July 24, 2007

The Surge is Working: U.S. Casualties Drop by Over a Third

From StrategyPage:

July 24, 2007:  The surge has basically been chasing the terrorist and criminal gangs around the suburbs of Baghdad, or even into northern or western Iraq. This has taken its toll. Time spent in flight cannot be spent planting IEDs or killing people. Putting all these guys on the road, also makes them more susceptible to capture. A lot of important terrorists have been captured this way. The chief liaison between al Qaeda headquarters and al Qaeda in Iraq was nabbed, as well as many mid-level terrorist cell leaders.

What most of the troops, and Iraqi civilians, notice is the lower level of violence. Since the surge offensive began four months ago, Iraqi (military and civilian) deaths have declined by more than 50 percent, and American casualties are down by over a third. U.S. troops are still taking the lead in moving into hostile areas, and being exposed to ambush and IEDs. But U.S. tactics and training have made enemy efforts much less lethal. This has helped demoralize an increasing number of terrorists. Many are tired of killing Iraqi civilians, and the increasing difficulty at getting at American troops. Look at this from the Iraqi perspective. In a very good month, Iraqis make a hundred or more attacks a day on American troops, and kill, on average, about four of them.  While the terrorists make a big deal out of every American killed, they know that most of their attacks were not only failures, but got a lot of their buddies killed. On average, 10-20 terrorists die for every American killed. This has been going on for years, and an increasing number of Iraqi fighters are demoralized and quitting. Many either become informers, or surrender and speak freely.  This is resulting in fresher intelligence, and raids that are catching terrorist  cells preparing for operations, and in possession of weapons, bombs and incriminating documents.

The terrorists like us to think that it's impossible for an army to fight a force that can melt into a civilian population.

But maybe it's not impossible.

Maybe it's just a little more expensive.

Could Religious Freedom Be on the Horizon in Egypt?

If it were to be confirmed as official policy in Egypt, this would be historic:

Egypt's religious advisor says Muslims can choose own religion

CAIRO: Egypt's official religious advisor has ruled that Muslims are free to change their faith as it is a matter between an individual and God, in a move which could have far-reaching implications for the country's Christians.

"The essential question before us is can a person who is Muslim choose a religion other than Islam? The answer is yes, they can," Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said in a posting on a Washington Post-Newsweek forum picked up by the Egyptian press on Tuesday.

...In many Muslim societies, those who convert to another religion are considered apostates and can be subject to capital punishment.

..."Even though it is not a criminal offence in Egypt, they get detained under emergency laws or are put on trial for contempt of religion if they wish to convert," said Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

"This (ruling) is significant, especially coming from Gomaa," he added. "Between 2004 and now there have been many court cases involving Christian converts to Islam that want to convert back to Christianity who are unable to do so."

To underscore the importance of such an advance, here's a quote from Wafa Sultan, who last year was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

When Muslims say, there are 1.3 billion of them, it makes it sound like they are the whole world. But the rest of the world is 5 billion. Muslims are a minority and they have to act like it. Those Muslims have no choice of religion, they are forced to be Muslim. Give those 1.3 billion Muslims freedom of religion, and then see how many Muslims there are in the world!

Does Feuding with the Pentagon Disqualify Hlllary to be Commander-In-Chief?

You'd think Hillary would at least want the story to go away. You'd think she wouldn't want to remind people that the Pentagon had warned her she was 'reinforcing enemy propaganda.'  For the record, here's the background info:

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon told Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton that her questions about how the U.S. plans to eventually withdraw from Iraq boosts enemy propaganda. In a stinging rebuke to a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman responded to questions Clinton raised in May in which she urged the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of American forces.

A copy of Edelman's response, dated July 16, was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote.

He added that "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."

But, on the contrary, she's working hard to keep the story alive - and even to drag other Democrat senators into it with her.

Hillary Seeks Support in Pentagon Fight

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday enlisted the help of other Democratic senators in her feud with the Pentagon over end-of-war planning in Iraq.

She wants to be commander-in-chief - but she's in a feud with the Pentagon. Hopefully many voters will remember that the Pentagon itself has warned her, that she's helping the enemy - the enemy that is killing American troops in Iraq.