US deaths in Iraq pass 3000, 22,000 seriously wounded

[Alexander's Horse]

25,000 reasons to distract with Saddam's execution?

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/219522/116765898292.htm

I was scoffed at a year or so ago for suggesting the casualties for the same period of the Vietnam war were comparable but it seems to be so according to this report.

Not that I'm expecting the same escalation in this war in the latter phase of Vietnam, where US combat deaths reached a 1000 a month by 1968.

The diabolical thing about the Iraq war is there doesn't seem to be a way to win, or a way out that isn't going to look like defeat.

[Ecthy]

No way to win? How about cutting off their supply? If we know where good parts of their supplies come from, I wonder how can it be so hard to cut off supply routes? The border to Iran might be long but sure there are only a few key roads to control. Syria could easily be occupied, we can do that.

[Alexander's Horse]

"we"? Krauts getting itchy feet again??

[Ecthy]

I was of course talking about a multinational peace force led by purely western NATO countries

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Ecthy
No way to win? How about cutting off their supply? If we know where good parts of their supplies come from, I wonder how can it be so hard to cut off supply routes? The border to Iran might be long but sure there are only a few key roads to control.

Right! Bomb the Ho Chi Minh Trail! It's gotta work. It's just gotta.

[Ecthy]

How about occupy it this time not bomb it?

[Zkribbler]

Ah! Like invading Laos and Cambodia?? Why yes, that's sure to work!

[Ecthy]

I don't think that analogy holds. Now enough for the bull****, I'll now lean back and wait for someone to produce a complete summary of the logistics of the insurgency as well as strategic considerations.

*Gets Popcorn*

[Ecthy]

You see Sloww this is where you can actually grab popcorn without being called an a$$hole.

[Zkribbler]

There is only one way to win a guerilla war...
and that's to win the hearts and minds of the people.

Last I heard, 80% of Iraqis want us to withdraw.

[Drake Tungsten]

There is only one way to win a guerilla war... and that's to win the hearts and minds of the people.

You can also start killing the population that supports the guerillas and not stop until the resistance does. Now, we don't have the stones to do that, but the Shiites sure do...

[Zkribbler]

You're right. Using terror to enslave the poplulation the way Saddam did is another way.

[SlowwHand]

U.S. Traffic Deaths on Rise

By Ken Thomas
August 24, 2006

Traffic deaths in the United States reached their highest levels since 1990, the government reported this week. The spike in fatalities was attributed to an increase in motorcycle and pedestrian fatalities.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 43,443 people were killed on the highways last year, up 1.4 percent from 42,836 in 2004. It was the highest number of fatalities in a single year since 1990, when 44,599 people were killed.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2006/08/24/71690.htm

[Zkribbler]

Sloww, if you spend your life reading insurance actuarial tables, you'll never be known for having panache.

[SlowwHand]

When you think about it, joining the military is actually one of the safest things you can do.