So news out of Iraq today are the battles all around the country. It sounds like there is major action in Baghdad, Falluja, Kut, Najaf, Amara, and Nasiriya. What is really interesting is how the different media outlets are headlining the story.
Washington Post - U.S. Marines Strike Back To Seize Parts of Fallujah
LA Times - Marines Drive Into Fallouja in Pursuit of Insurgents
Fox News - Fierce Battle in Sunni Triangle
International Herald Tribune - U.S. battles Iraqis at edge of Falluja
CBS News - Fighting Flares Across Iraq
ABC News - Rumsfeld: Troops Capture Fallujah Suspects
NY Times - 8 Americans Dead in Iraq Clashes Since Weekend, U.S. Says
CNN - Sources: Al-Sadr supporters take over Najaf
BBC News - US struggles to quell Iraq revolt
So you will notice that the first group makes this sound like a few fierce battles happening around Iraq, but I think the BBC headline really hits the proverbial nail on the head. This is a revolution. It may become a civil war. Since the start of the month 25 "coalition" troops and countless Iraqi civilians and insurgents have been killed. So far the "coalition" average deaths per day is higher than any month besides March of 2001 (the opening 2 weeks of the war)[attribution:Iraqi Coalition Casualties]. Anybody who thinks that we are going to be pulling out of Iraq in July (or even by November) is sorely mistaken, and I even think that handing over political power is probably at serious risk of not happening.
UPDATE: only 3 hours after writing this message we now are looking at somewhere between 37 and 150+ coalition casualties. Keep watching Iraqi Coalition Casualties for the latest figures.
Posted by Noah Brimhall at April 6, 2004 01:11 PM