At Last! Good News From Iraq
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USA Today reports that non-combat U.S. troop deaths have fallen for three years--largely because of fewer vehicle accidents--and account for the smallest percentage of fatalities of any war except the Korean conflict.
Non-combat deaths are declining mostly because troops aren't driving unless they absolutely have to for a mission, USA Today reports. But the change is significant in the history of warfare.
Until World War II, more soldiers died from things like dysentery and freezing to death than taking bullets, historians say. Even the high-tech 1991 Gulf War continued this trend, with 235 troops dying outside of combat, compared to 147 in combat. That war, according to Dennis McBride, president of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, was "relatively chaotic."
Things are also looking good on the home front. The Wall Street Journal worldwide newsbox notes that U.S traffice dealths fell to 42,642 in 2006, the lowest in five years. At the same time, the death rate per miles traveled hit a record low.
Ask Not For Whom It Polls, Congress, It Polls For Thee
Note to Congress: Next time you think that staying up all night eating pizza, lounging on cots and snapping testily at each other is going to convince the public you're helping them shoulder the burden of the disastrous war that you voted for, think again. Two polls released today reveal that, on the whole, Americans have a low opinion of our men and women on the Hill.
The New York Times suggests that the low Congressional approval ratings found in its New York Times/CBS News poll--only 6 in 10 Americans approve of the job they're doing--might account for an otherwise mystifying uptick in the number of people who support the initial invasion of Iraq from a similar poll earlier this month. The bizarre conclusion from this thinking is that, while American might hate war, they appear to hate Congress's ineffectual attempts to stop it even more.
The Washington Post reports that a Washington Post/ABC News poll finds similar lack of love for Congress's handling of Iraq. Overall approval of Congress stands at 37 percent in the poll, with 60 percent disapproval rating equal to public dissatisfaction with the Republican-controlled Congress late last year. And we all remember what happened to them.
"Sustainable Security"--Not As Earth-Friendly As It Sounds
The New York Times leads today with a story confirming yesterday's USA Today interview with a top general suggesting the U.S. military plans to stay in Iraq for at least another two years. This time, the Times refers to classified documents, discussed by unnamed officials, outlining American plans to establish "sustainable security" across Iraq by 2009.
Although the document mentions bringing down the troop "surge" sometime next year, "it nonetheless assumes continued American involvement to train soldiers, act as partners with Iraqi forces and fight terrorist groups in Iraq."
No, Really, We're Just Stopping By
In case these leaks weren't enough to frighten Iraqis into believing we're planning to set up some kind of permanent shop in their country, the LA Times reports today on the controversy surrounding the new, Vatican City-sized U.S. embassy now being built in Baghdad.
The $600-million behemoth won't even be finished until September, but it's already being criticized as an anachronism, not big enough or safe enough if things go south.
"Like much U.S. planning in Iraq, the embassy was conceived nearly three years ago on rosy assumptions that stability was around the corner, and the military efforts would gradually draw down, leaving behind a vast array of civilian experts who would remain intimately engaged in Iraqi state-building."
Oh yeah, and someone got hold of the architectural plans and posted them on the Internet in May. But that's not the scariest part. This is:
"If the government of Iraq collapses and becomes transparently just one party in a civil war, you've got Ft. Apache in the middle of Indian Country," said Stephen Biddle, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "But the Indians have mortars now."
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