A different perspective on casualty rates in Iraq

In From The Cold has a post about casualty rates and what they mean in the broader context of Iraq as well as our upcoming elections.

He makes the point that famous battles from WW2 like Midway and Iwo Jima were viewed by their contemporaries as unmitigated disasters. However, in retrospect we see those battles as key turning points in the war that, despite our losses, were critical to winning the war. With the appropriate distance we have objectivity and vastly increased knowledge of the conflict as a whole with which to properly judge a battle. The same thing is happening now. We are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and in contemporary terms, we may appear to be losing while making key gains that are as yet unseen. I'm not certain I share this view but I think the point is certainly valid and something we should keep in mind when judging the success or failure of our efforts in the Global War on Terror.

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