Violence in Iraq drops sharply....

[Henry Hawk]

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSCOL24813120071022?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Violence in Iraq drops sharply: Ministry

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Violence in Iraq has dropped by 70 percent since the end of June, when U.S. forces completed their build-up of 30,000 extra troops to stabilize the war-torn country, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.


Wouldn't you think, this ought to have a spot somewhere on the front page of the newspapers....

[Henry Hawk]

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2007/10/23/no_news_is_bad_news

Last week, ABC's Charles Gibson introduced a segment about Iraq on "World News Tonight" with this curious remark: "The news is (pause for effect) that there is no news. The police told us today that, to their knowledge, there were no major acts of violence. Attacks are down in Baghdad and today no bombings or roadside explosions were reported."

The big media and their auxiliary in the left wing of the Democratic Party do not regard "no news" as good news, but as the worst possible news, because it threatens to undermine their political objective: the defeat of Republicans in the next election, even at the cost of losing a war.

[Sandy Eggo]

Henry while I guess any little bit of stability is a good thing. I wonder what happens when we come home. We can stay there forever. Don't you think they're just biding their time? Besides, that's not the whole story:

However, in the northern province of Nineveh, where many al Qaeda and other Sunni Arab militants fled to escape the crackdown in Baghdad and surrounding region, there had been a 129 percent rise in car bombings and a corresponding 114 percent increase in the number of people killed in violence.

While the figures confirm U.S. data showing a positive trend in combating al Qaeda bombers, there is growing instability in southern Iraq, where rival Shi'ite factions are fighting for political dominance.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSCOL24813120071022?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Based on your article, our troops have only been successful in causing the violence to shift to a different part of Iraq.

[Henry Hawk]

Henry while I guess any little bit of stability is a good thing. I wonder what happens when we come home. We can stay there forever. Don't you think they're just biding their time? Besides, that's not the whole story:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSCOL24813120071022?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Based on your article, our troops have only been successful in causing the violence to shift to a different part of Iraq.

No!.......it says.......Violence in IRAQ down 70%................just because a city in Iraq went up.......the overall picture IS.........Violence DOWN 70%

but, the surge is not working and Petraues is an idiot...Right?

[awol]

the numbers are suspect at best.

[Henry Hawk]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jl-T6oZzoEPl-sxpbV4urd0EpCYQ

Sharp Drop Seen in US Deaths in Iraq

October is on course to record the second consecutive decline in U.S. military and Iraqi civilian deaths and Americans commanders say they know why: the U.S. troop increase and an Iraqi groundswell against al-Qaida and Shiite militia extremists.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch points to what the military calls "Concerned Citizens" — both Shiites and Sunnis who have joined the American fight. He says he's signed up 20,000 of them in the past four months.

"I've never been more optimistic than I am right now with the progress we've made in Iraq. The only people who are going to win this counterinsurgency project are the people of Iraq. We've said that all along. And now they're coming forward in masses," Lynch said in a recent interview at a U.S. base deep in hostile territory south of Baghdad. Outgoing artillery thundered as he spoke.

[Sandy Eggo]

No!.......it says.......Violence in IRAQ down 70%................just because a city in Iraq went up.......the overall picture IS.........Violence DOWN 70%

but, the surge is not working and Petraues is an idiot...Right?

Actually, your original post said "Baghdad"

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2007/10/23/no_news_is_bad_news

Attacks are down in Baghdad and today no bombings or roadside explosions were reported."

[Henry Hawk]

Actually, your original post said "Baghdad"

I did not change any posts...........the main paragraph and headline is "Iraq".........it does also say bagdad....too.

that was the original.

[Sandy Eggo]

I did not change any posts...........the main paragraph and headline is "Iraq".........it does also say bagdad....too.

that was the original.

You're right, I was looking at the second article when I made that comment. So my mistake. Still, the results seem somewhat skewed to me. You have Baghdad where violence is down but another area where violence is up over 100%. Hypothetically if the violence dropped to 0 in Baghdad, would it matter if it increases every where else? The average may even still look good, but when you break it down, it's not as pretty of a picture.

[Henry Hawk]

You're right, I was looking at the second article when I made that comment. So my mistake. Still, the results seem somewhat skewed to me. You have Baghdad where violence is down but another area where violence is up over 100%. Hypothetically if the violence dropped to 0 in Baghdad, would it matter if it increases every where else? The average may even still look good, but when you break it down, it's not as pretty of a picture.

well look at it this way..........if the violence in Bagdad was (just making up figures here for demonstration) 1000 a day.....and Nineveh was 10 a day....

bagdad drops to 500 a day.....50% decrease.................Nineveh raises to 20....100% increase.............the total of the two went from 1010 to 520....

that paints a fairly pretty picture (pretty probably is not a good word to use)

[Sandy Eggo]

What I'm trying to say is that in this case, I believe averages are misleading in that they don't paint the complete picture.

[Henry Hawk]

What I'm trying to say is that in this case, I believe averages are misleading in that they don't paint the complete picture.

that is the liberal in ya, that wants to see something wrong in this picture...............if it was violence is up, you would not have any problem with the story would ya?

[Sandy Eggo]

that is the liberal in ya, that wants to see something wrong in this picture...............if it was violence is up, you would not have any problem with the story would ya?

and that's the conservative in ya..you want to accept it for face value w/out pulling it apart and analyzing what it really means.