Enemy Body Counts Revived

[ECH1969]

Eager to demonstrate success in Iraq, the U.S. military has abandoned its previous refusal to publicize enemy body counts and now cites such numbers periodically to show the impact of some counterinsurgency operations.

So far, the releases have tended to be associated either with major attacks that netted significant numbers of enemy fighters or with lengthy operations that have spanned days or weeks.

In May, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, mentioned the killing of 250 of insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi's "closest lieutenants" as evidence of progress in Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/23/AR2005102301273.html
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That is a hell of alot of al-Qaeda number 2s.

[wookie294]

1. So, ''we don't do body counts'' is another lie

Just like Jessica Lynch's "rescue" was a lie.

[rodeodance]

2. i have noticed that in the last few months-the # of enemy killed is in the

news/ paper.

[FloridaPat]

3. Just more lies. The "enemy" in Iraq is any Iraqi. They can't tell the

difference between a civilian and an "insurgent". So tired of the lies.

[MADem]

4. That history major in the WH needs to read the history of the war

he declined to attend.

This is Nam, redux. How long before they make kids cut off ears to verify their count?

[DemoTex]

5. 'Nam redux, indeed. Body-count wise, Iraq is worse.

In Viet Nam the body count was a lie. In Iraq the lack of a count was a lie, and the official "count" is a lie too. What we have here is total desperation on the part of the criminally incompetent Bu$h regime.

[PurityOfEssence]

6. This isn't news; they've been doing it regularly for over a year

The corporate media isn't even vaguely representative of what's been going on. Virtually every after-action report since early '04 has centered around the number of ingrates we had to thump.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Over 650 "closest lieutenants"?

According to Myers, coalition forces have killed about 250 and captured more than 400 of Zarqawi's closest lieutenants

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2005/20050529_1402.html

Now that's what I call a flat organisational structure. Imagine how remote a 'normal lieutenant' must feel.

[Loonman]

8. Notice how they get killed in nice round numbers?

50 here, 70 there.....I even read 210 in one report.

[ninkasi]

9. Are they also going to post

the numbers of children, women, the elderly, and any other innocent bystanders? No, they'll just add those to the total of "enemies" killed. What a shameful episode this is in American history. All brought about by the arrogance of a rich, spoiled sociopath.