I have a question. Bit of a change of subject but relevant, I think. President Bush this week said that 5900 insurgents have been killed or captured in Iraq over 2 months. Assuming this number is not an abberation, and doing some back of the envelope calculations, it's hard to extrapolate such that the US has not killed or captured at least 250,000 of the enemy just in Iraq before the US could ever withdraw. If I include Afghanistan, Lebanon, revenge killings within Iraq, etc., it's quite easy to conjure up body counts exceeding 500,000, from 2002 through 2008.
I'm a lone conservative in a family, town, and state filled with libs. I never see the MSM report on our progress. I know body counts are an imprecise measure. But I don't know what other metrics to use. Still, I figure that this is a war of attrition that we can't "win" in any conventional way, at least as long as we don't invade Iran, Pakistan, etc. But I'm at a loss to understand why everyone at this point -- everyone -- considers this military effort a debacle. And I don't understand how the bad guys can sustain these kind of losses indefinitely.
You folks all seem so knowledgeable. Maybe you can help me understand ... why is this effort such a loss?
I'll add, since I don't have many opportunities, how much in awe I am of the folks who write on these matters, and the contributions so many have made to defend our country.
It never even occurred to me growing up to go into the military. It's not what folks ever did in the circles in which I was raised. But I keep telling my 15-year old son that though no one here will ever raise the prospect, nothing could make me prouder than for him to take that route.