Tuesday, July 14, 2009

What will victory in Iraq look like?

That oft repeated question was so popular in 2006 and 2007, especially during the Surge. The pro-mission response was usually that victory would be when Iraq could take care of its own security, with US troops doing less of the fighting and more of the training.

Maybe there was a simpler answer. Victory in Iraq will look like 0.

0, as in the number of bombs dropped by coalition aircraft over Iraq in June.

From the Army Times-

“0” as in zero.

That’s how many bombs Air Force and other coalition warplanes dropped over Iraq in June, the latest figures from Air Forces Central show.

In comparison, 437 bombs were used in Afghanistan during June.

The zero number of bombs marked the first time in at least 3.5 years that no munitions were released over Iraq

The Air Force continues to launch F-16 close-air support missions out of Joint Base Balad in Iraq, and carrier-based Navy jets also are in the air, but fewer missions are flown. During the first half of 2009, 4,461 close-air support sorties were flown, AFCent said. If the rate continues, U.S. planes will fly less than 50 percent of the missions flown in 2007 or 2008.

Ironically, the number of Deomcrat politicians who said that the US could not win in Iraq and have since then publically corrected themsleves is also zero.

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