Down Is Up
AP on Iraqi violence watch claims insurgents are bypassing US soldiers, hence a drop in US deaths, and going for Iraqi security forces. The ensuing report is all about attacks on joint patrols and convoys, however, with US wounded. Also, the kind of attacks on police recruiting facilities we’ve seen all along. So it’s hard to make sense of it. Especially since Iraqi civilian and military deaths are down by about half, much like US deaths. AP’s track record in identifying trends, such as the Sunni Awakening, the success of the surge, etc., has not been good. Sometimes I feel like they make these statements just because they feel like they need to make some kind of statement. After all …
The carnage took place despite a downturn in violent deaths.
At least 17 U.S. troop deaths were recorded in November in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count, but only eight of those occurred during fighting. The military often doesn’t release details about noncombat deaths, but the term usually refers to suicides or accidents.
The toll was a sharp drop from the 37 Americans who died in November 2007 — all but eight in combat, the AP tally showed. In all, at least 4,207 U.S. service members have died since the war began in March 2003.
Despite persistent violence, the number of Iraqi civilians and security forces killed in November also plummeted to 360, half the death toll from the same period last year, according to figures based on AP reporting. That continues a downward trend of Iraqi casualties that began in May and was the lowest monthly toll since the AP began tracking them in May 2005.
Meanwhile, here’s a “grim reminder” in Afghanistan that, despite the “resilience” of the Taliban, the coalition forces are kicking ass. Those AP quotes were siphoned from the tank of stock doom-and-gloom, viva al-Qaeda AP idiom. Because in this article, the AP oddly foregoes the usual rhetoric. AP is forced to admit something’s amiss. We had a good month. In fact, despite an increase in coalition deaths, it may close out as a good year.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - One American serviceman died in Afghanistan in November, a dramatic drop from earlier months that the U.S. military attributed to their campaign against insurgent leaders, operations by Afghan and Pakistani forces and the onset of winter.
Well, that sounds like something good is happening.
Hang on.
Twice this year, monthly U.S. death tolls in Afghanistan surpassed the monthly toll in Iraq, highlighting the differing trends in the two war zones: Security in Iraq has improved while it has deteriorated in Afghanistan.
Brace for news of impending doom in Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s reach is expanding — and even the capital, Kabul, is more dangerous than before.
OK, that sounds bad.
U.S. troops suffered an average of 21 deaths in Afghanistan each month this year from May to October — by far the deadliest six-month period in Afghanistan for American forces since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. The Afghan Defense Ministry does not release fatality figures.
Militants this year have unleashed increasingly powerful roadside bombs and sophisticated, multidirectional ambushes. The deadlier attacks, combined with a record number of U.S. troops patrolling Afghanistan’s vast provinces, has this year led to more American military deaths than ever before in Afghanistan — 148.
An annual total, while higher proportionate to the number of troops in Afghanistan compared to Iraq, that roughly corresponds American death for American death to the worst months in Iraq. Hardly a rout in the making. Go ask the Russians. Anyway, the story goes on to describe successful coalition efforts to whack the Taliban and its leadership, cut them off from resupply, and build up Afghan forces. Coalition spokesmen are quoted as saying:
… operations conducted by U.S. forces last summer against insurgent areas and bomb-making networks helped lower November’s violence. Those efforts likely contributed to a 40 percent drop in improvised explosive device attacks in October, compared with September, and may have pushed down troop death last month as well.
… the number of attacks in the Kabul region was 50 percent lower in January to October this year than during the same 10-month period in 2007. “And again, we attribute that to not only the Afghan security forces, but you have to give credit to the Afghan people for their personal involvement in the form of tips and their reports to Afghan security forces,” he said.
Hey, I thought the Taliban’s reach was expanding. Even Kabul is more dangerous than before. Before when?
Eleven U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in November 2007, meaning the year-on-year drop is also significant.
Down, way down, is generally where the AP shoves any information that doesn’t fit the storyline.
More than 5,900 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency related violence in Afghanistan this year …
I’m sure they meant terrorists.
Taliban and other militant suicide bombers frequently target Afghan and international military forces in their suicide attacks, but many more Afghan civilians typically die in the attacks than do government officials or military personnel.
I guess that makes suicide bombing a military-like activity, hence the use of the word “militant.” Makes it sound like Taliban killing of civilians is a regretable accident of war, much like when US forces, when fired upon by Taliban hiding among civilians, inadvertantly kill civilians. Though when you think about it, it isn’t like anyone’s forcing the Taliban to set off their bombs in marketplaces, or hide among civilians. It’s almost like they do it on purpose. And “frequently,” in that last graph, sounds like a bit of a wiggle word. Who are they targeting the rest of the time? Aid workers. Schoolgirls and teachers. Government employees and officials. Unarmed police and army recruits.
OK, so why do I devote so much attention to nitpicking AP stories? Well, aside from the fact that they generally suck, and with a few exceptions have done such an atrocious job covering these wars? Because we are so heavily reliant on them for what passes for news, due to their near-monopoly status.
Prior scholarship re AP war suckage:
Lazy, Stupid or Willfully Ignorant?
Sprechen Sie Deutsches Mit Einer Tauben Welt
AP Analysis: War is Hard, We’re Depressed (Can We Leave Now?)
Topics: Afghanistan, Iraq, media
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:28 pm on Monday, December 1, 2008
One Response to “Down Is Up”
Leave a Reply
Trackback URLYou must be logged in to post a comment.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Makes it sound like Taliban killing of civilians is a regretable accident of war, much like when US forces, when fired upon by Taliban hiding among civilians, inadvertantly kill civilians.
No, no, no. When the Taliban kill civilians, it’s a regrettable accident of war. When US forces kill civilians, among whom the Taliban are hiding, it’s a war crime. AP makes it very clear.
[/sarc]