3149 Dead Iraqi Civilians
By …in June alone.
Predicted wingnut reactions:
1. Still better than Saddam (which is true, if you wildly inflate estimate of the death toll under Saddam).
2. It’s the fault of Iran (these are the wingnuts who remain optimistic).
3. It’s the fault of the Iraqis (these are the wingnuts who are ready to move on to “Exterminate the Bastards”).
4. It’s the fault of the Democrats, except Joe Lieberman (all wingnuts will hew to this one).
5. Lies. All lies.
… in comments, FMGuru adds:
6. It still compares favorably to living in Detroit/Washington DC/some other city.
7. The spike in the death numbers shows just how desperate the terrorist resistance has become, and is a measure of [how] close President Bush’s strategy is to total victory.
8. Something something BILL CLINTON something.
9. Look! Over there! Two homos are fixin’ to get married!
10. What are we still talking about Iraq? That’s so last year. Now, about this mexicofascist reconquista…
11. You’re ugly and your butt smells and you like to smell your own butt.
12. Someone said something outre in a comment section somewhere! WHY WON’T LIBERAL BLOGS TAKE A STAND ON THIS?!??
… more substantively, it’s beginning to look as if Iraqi death rates are increasing while American casualty rates are stabilizing. This leads me to believe that (as Max Boot has suggested) American forces are becoming increasingly disconnected from the actual fighting in Iraq. The characteristics of the recent attacks (on either side) make this look a lot more like a civil war than a fight against terrorists or a traditional insurgency.