Spinning numbers
What Others Say

The reputation of the Iraq war, now within sight of its fifth birthday, is fully entrenched as a smorgasbord of numbers. Spinmasters who support the United States' military presence in Iraq have data that illustrate President Bush's surge is working. Those who preach the anti- Iraq war sermon have death-toll figures that strengthen the argument against continuing this Middle East bloodbath.

This coming week brings Veterans Day, the hallowed day when we honor those who have served in the military. It also brings Monday's headline: That 2007 likely will be the deadliest year thus far for America's military in the Iraq war.

What a chilling reminder of the horrors of combat and the price our nation pays for Bush's decision to launch a pre-emptive, unnecessary war.

In this case, the data are virtually impossible to refute. The year 2004 was the deadliest thus far for U.S. troops in Iraq; 850 American soldiers died that year - the second year of this fouryear old war. America's 2007 death toll now stands at 847 and, sadly, is virtually assured of surpassing the 2004 mark. What ironic timing if it occurs the same week as Veterans Day.

It's no revelation that Iraq war statistics are easily manipulated and misinterpreted, depending on one's point of view. The Associated Press has reported that the U.S.'s surge of troop strength has reduced violence in parts of Iraq, and that Iraqi-on- Iraqi violence has dropped in certain communities. Those statistics - which individually do not tell the complete story - paint a grainy picture of modest success in the Iraq war, a picture the Bush White House is sure to exploit in an effort to mask the real toll our nation is paying for this administration's mistakes.

There is no way around this fact: 2007 has been a deadly year for America in Iraq, and this week it may become the deadliest year our military has spent in the former land of Saddam Hussein.

Those numbers cannot be spun.

Anniston Star

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