Iraq: February 3, 2004

Archives

The 130,000 US troops in Iraq suffered 40 combat deaths during January. When pressed, coalition officials will only say that "hundreds" of Iraqis have been killed in battles with coalition troops. The number of such skirmishes has declined to about twenty a day (from a peak of nearly 50 a day in November.) But more attacks are suicide bombs and are directed at Iraqis. The suicide bombers. who appear to be foreign Islamic radicals (dozens have been captured). But the radicals have not done much to get their message out. Apparently the radicals believe that everyone understands that they are holy warriors who are working to establish a world wide Islamic state. Few Iraqis are interested in this, and most blame the Americans for letting these murderous lunatics into the country. Cash rewards offered for information on the foreigners has yielded lots of tips, but most of them have led to smugglers or other foreign criminals. Iraqi police are making most of the arrests, with US troops being called in only when heavy resistance is expected. 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close