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1000 dead for starters.
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While that is a stark number, I recall reading this week that there were estimates that we have killed as many as 25,000 terrorists in Iraq. Tactically, the more they expose themsselves in a Tet-like offensive, the better for our attrition plans. By the way, you are aware that the Tet offensive was a crippling defeat of the Viet Cong after which they were never again a fighting force?

And in the end, as Tommy Franks said, its better to be fighting them there than here.

Fallujah: We lost several Marines while taking 1/3-1/2 the city, then stopped and pull back. This was Sanchez' plan.
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Fallujah is an unfinished story. In World War II we bypassed Japanese strong points and strangled them. I have read counter-terrorism posts at Belmont Club indicating that letting terrorists gather and grow sloppy before killing them in mass in a place like Fallujah can be very effective.

Sadr-city: We fought for more than 2 weeks, then let Sadr go!
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Did you read that thousands of Iraqi's demonstrated against Sadr this weekend? He is a discredited loser, who lost many many young men. Clauzwitz would have very much approved the combination of political and military strategy that brought this conclusion.

We're not serious about winning, otherwise we would be exterminating the 5000-10,000 unfriendlies in Iraq.
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See my first post. Are you reading Chrenkoff's blogg?

Here is what was publshed from his site in today's Wall Street Journal:

On the security front, while sporadic fighting and terrorist activity continue, there are also some positive developments. In Baghdad, there are indications that the public support for insurgency might be waning: "Overwhelmingly residents of the war-torn area voiced their frustration and anger at the militia, noting that they were tired of the civilian casualties, tired of being without basic services and wanting nothing more than to get back to their normal life," says Cpl. Benjamin Cossel with the First Cavalry Division.

From Najaf, more evidence emerges of the behavior of Muqtada al Sadr's militia during the recent fighting--see this post by Iraqi blogger Zeyad. And another Iraqi blogger, Omar, reports on the recent statement by Iraqi clerics condemning the atrocities committed by al Sadr and his followers while in control of Najaf.

The Iraqi security apparatus is playing an increasingly important role. The Iraqi police force is at the forefront of struggle for better order, most of the time under difficult conditions and at great personal risk:

Iraqi police cadet Meqdad al-Izzawi once served Saddam Hussein as a navy officer. Now, he says he is taking one of the most dangerous jobs in the new Iraq because he wants to serve his people.
"My hope is to execute the law in Iraq and restore stability to the Iraqi people, because we never enjoyed security, even under Saddam Hussein," said the 28-year-old al-Izzawi, one of 1,559 Iraqi recruits attending basic police training at a U.S.-run camp in the Jordanian desert.

Like al-Izzawi, fellow Iraqi recruit Abdul-Razzaq al-Qaissi signed up for the new police force because he was incensed by growing terrorism at home by insurgents and foreign fighters, including Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi.

"Al-Zarqawi and other terrorists are a source of concern to my countrymen and we have to put an end to their actions," said al-Qaissi, 28, who served as a soldier in the domestic security division of Saddam's dismantled army, guarding vital institutions, like government offices and diplomatic missions in Iraq.

With Western assistance, more and more Iraqi police officers find their way onto their beats. Says a British brigadier who is helping to rebuild the force:

Why would anyone want to be a police officer in Iraq? It's dangerous, no question. But there has never been a problem recruiting. We're training 5,000 new officers every eight weeks.
Obviously, one reason is the pay: $220 a month is a lot here. But most officers say they want to serve their country. They want to build a better Iraq. Their nation has such potential; fulfilling it requires security, and they want to be part of that. . . .

We were late to recognize that without an effective police force, we're going to be here a lot longer. But now we have 500 international police advisers and 200 police trainers. The FBI and DEA have arrived to teach intelligence. We've put 23,000 officers through leadership courses at three different levels.

Meanwhile, the police force is chalking up some successes, like breaking up the biggest kidnapping ring in Baghdad, responsible for taking several government officials and scientists for ransom. The gang was composed of criminals amnestied by Saddam Hussein in 2002. In a related, albeit this time moral, victory, the most senior Sunni religious body in Iraq, the ulema, has issues a fatwa, declaring hostage-taking to be un-Islamic and ordering that all hostages be released.
It's not just the police, but also the army, which is proving their worth. "The Iraqi security forces, every day, are proving themselves more capable and more fit," says Air Force Brig. Gen. Erv Lessel, the multinational forces' deputy operations director. The report notes that "besides being called in to restore law and order in Najaf and elsewhere across the country, Iraq's security forces also have been responsible for discovering a number of explosive devices and weapons caches in recent weeks. For example, Iraqi National Guard members found a huge cache of weapons and ordnance Aug. 26 during a joint raid conducted with U.S. Marines on a home near Haswah, according to a Multinational Force Iraq news release. About 132 107 mm rockets were seized during the raid, the release stated, as well as seven 57 mm rockets, 10 AK-47 assault rifles, seven 125 mm tank rounds, five rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 124 RPG rounds, 200 mortar rounds, bomb-making materials and improvised explosive devices."

Another report notes: "Joint U.S. and Iraqi forces have arrested 500 suspected insurgents in a major raid in the majority Sunni town of Al-Latifiyah, south of Baghdad. The raid--the first undertaken in the Sunni triangle by the new Iraqi interim government--highlights the increasingly frontline role of Iraqi forces in security operations." Meanwhile, a new Iraqi army base reopens:

The pace is way too slow. We are trying to do this operation without breaking any dishes, and to please public opinion.

Public Opinion wouldn't matter if we were serious. The parameters for use of force would be loosened up to complete the job-world opinion be damned.

More Americans will likely have to be rubbed out at home before we get serious, I'm sorry to say. I only hope it isn't too bad, or too late.

That's how I see it.