Originally posted by WhiteHawk
2 weeks of battle and the reports are over 2000 dead insurgents. You look up the figures that the US claims to have killed thus far for the entire war or even just after the declaration of the 'end of hostilities'. Dont forget the civilians killed indirectly by destroyed infrastructure to their cities and towns. The towns most likely to vote for the US interests govt are the first to get thier water and electric and medicine. The towns most likely to suppor the Iranian friendly govt are not going to get much in the way of 'rebuilding' money until long after the elections.
I'd still like to see your sources because I havent been able to find a single report that claims 2000 were killed in the last two weeks.
"U.S. officials have raised their estimates of the size and financial support of Iraq’s insurgency, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources. The resistance numbers between 8,000 and 12,000 rebels, counting foreign fighters, the network of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and home-grown insurgents, the Times cited the officials as saying. When sympathizers are added, the number burgeons to more than 20,000, the newspaper said. Those estimates are greater than earlier intelligence reports — in which the number of insurgents has varied between 2,000 and 7,000, the Times said. According to military and government officials in Iraq and Washington cited by the Times, the core of the Iraqi insurgency now consisted of as many as 50 militant cells that draw on “unlimited money” from an underground financial network run by former Baath Party leaders and relatives of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein."
So how can we have killed tens of thousands of insurgants when there are barely "tens of thousands" in the insurgancy itself"
"the core of the Iraqi insurgency now consisted of as many as 50 militant cells that draw on “unlimited money” from an underground financial network run by former Baath Party leaders and relatives of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein"
Hmmm arent those the ones we went in to get out of power to begin with.
All in all in total the largest estimates for Iraqi dead since the war started are around 100K but those numbers are estimates based on surveys and not actual numbers and the way those estimates were arrived at can be questioned as to their validity as well as accuracy based on the way those surveys were conducted. and I suspect by the way those suveys were conducted that number is greatly inflated.
but I will also admit the number in the end will also be higher then the previous estimates of 10-30K
BUT both estimates only count total "estimated"death due to war and do not discriminate by whom or how they were killed and also includes those that were killed/executed by the insurgents themselves.
But that number doesnt really surprise me as the Iraqi military had rougly 425,000 in service prior to the invasion
As for the "towns most likely to support the Iranian friendly government"
In over an hour of searching I have yet to find a single source to back your claim or even mention an Iranian friendly government in Iraq
Unless your talking about the government in place in Falluja which was executing anyone who didnt follow their rules or spoke out against them.
Perhaps you have some credible site that can enlighten me.