POLITICS - Too Much? Not Enough? Or is it just right?
Mother Fucking Fucker
In the past three days, at least 80 Iraqis and Americans killed/wounded in three separate attacks. Got that? Three attacks.
US Wounded - 35
US Dead - 10
Iraq Wounded - 39
Iraq Dead - 4
Total: 88 in those three attacks alone.
Rumsfeld says we lack the metrics to know if we're winning the war on terror. Here's my question. What metrics do we have that can gauge success or failure in terms of dead/wounded Americans?
There's an easy way to find this metric. Here's how you do it.
Let's say we have 100,000 troops in Iraq.
If every single one of them are killed, that has to be labeled a failure, no matter what else happens.
OK. So we know what IS a metric for a failure.
Now divide that 100,000 in half. Would the loss of 50,000 troops be labeled a failure? You're goddamned right it would be.
So divide that 50K in half, and keep asking the question. At some point, a qualified military leader can look at a number and say whether it is an acceptable casualty rate. At a certain point, you can say that a loss of 5000 would be too much, but a loss of 2,500 would be acceptable.
So what's the acceptable number of casualties in Iraq before we can agree that this is a miserable failure? 500? 1000? 2000? 4000?
Are we going to have to find out the hard way?
Mortar Attack on Wednesday
Thirty-five U.S. soldiers were wounded Wednesday in a mortar attack west of Baghdad, military officials said.
Rocket Attack on Thursday
A U.S. Army helicopter crashed Thursday near this village in west-central Iraq, killing all nine soldiers on board, and a military transport plane carrying 63 people made an emergency landing in Baghdad after being hit by groundfire, according to U.S. military officials.
Those officials declined to specify what caused the crash of the helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk used for medical evacuation, but witnesses said rocket fire brought it down.
Bicycle Suicide Bomber on Friday
A suicide bomber killed at least four other people after Friday prayers at a crowded Shi'ite mosque in Iraq, underscoring the threat of religious conflict in a land already racked by an anti-U.S. insurgency.
Officials at a nearby hospital said at least 39 people were wounded.
In the past three days, at least 80 Iraqis and Americans killed/wounded in three separate attacks. Got that? Three attacks.
US Wounded - 35
US Dead - 10
Iraq Wounded - 39
Iraq Dead - 4
Total: 88 in those three attacks alone.
Rumsfeld says we lack the metrics to know if we're winning the war on terror. Here's my question. What metrics do we have that can gauge success or failure in terms of dead/wounded Americans?
There's an easy way to find this metric. Here's how you do it.
Let's say we have 100,000 troops in Iraq.
If every single one of them are killed, that has to be labeled a failure, no matter what else happens.
OK. So we know what IS a metric for a failure.
Now divide that 100,000 in half. Would the loss of 50,000 troops be labeled a failure? You're goddamned right it would be.
So divide that 50K in half, and keep asking the question. At some point, a qualified military leader can look at a number and say whether it is an acceptable casualty rate. At a certain point, you can say that a loss of 5000 would be too much, but a loss of 2,500 would be acceptable.
So what's the acceptable number of casualties in Iraq before we can agree that this is a miserable failure? 500? 1000? 2000? 4000?
Are we going to have to find out the hard way?
Mortar Attack on Wednesday
Thirty-five U.S. soldiers were wounded Wednesday in a mortar attack west of Baghdad, military officials said.
Rocket Attack on Thursday
A U.S. Army helicopter crashed Thursday near this village in west-central Iraq, killing all nine soldiers on board, and a military transport plane carrying 63 people made an emergency landing in Baghdad after being hit by groundfire, according to U.S. military officials.
Those officials declined to specify what caused the crash of the helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk used for medical evacuation, but witnesses said rocket fire brought it down.
Bicycle Suicide Bomber on Friday
A suicide bomber killed at least four other people after Friday prayers at a crowded Shi'ite mosque in Iraq, underscoring the threat of religious conflict in a land already racked by an anti-U.S. insurgency.
Officials at a nearby hospital said at least 39 people were wounded.
posted by Hot_Tuna at 4:33:00 PM
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