While there seems to be less news from Iraq than ever recently, we are hearing occasional stories cautiously suggesting that the violence is down a little. An AP story Wednesday reported that bombing deaths in Baghdad are down 30% over the last month.
But according to The Brookings Institute’s Iraq Index, violence overall is way up:
“Iraqis Killed in Multiple Fatality Bombings”:
July: 490 (record high)
November: 580 (record high)
December: 574
January: 442
February 704 (record high)
“Iraqis Wounded in Multiple Fatality Bombings”:
July: 1161 (record high)
November: 1010
December: 1254 (record high)
January: 1081
February: 1684 (record high)
And about that troop surge:
September: 144,000 US troops (+18,000 foreign troops)
October: 144,000 (17,200)
November: 140,000 (+18,000)
December: 140,000 (+15,200)
January: 132,000 (+14,650)
February: 135,000 (+14,010)
March: 141,000 (+14,035)
In other words, there are less troops now than there were in December prior to the “troop surge”.
I assume this is largely because of troop rotations. We’ll have to see where the troop levels are in a couple of months. But so far, the “Year of the Troop Surge” was 2005. US forces were at 150,000 or more for 6 months out of 2005 (all-time high was 160,000 in November and December 2005). If I were John McCain, I’d be asking the White House if we’re ever going to get to those levels again. What followed our efforts in 2005, of course, was a dramatic increase in violence in 2006. (Troop levels ranged from about 130,00-144,000 in 2006.)
Bottom line, the violence in Iraq continues unabated.
