Monday, October 01, 2007

Information Battle

An American Humvee Drives Through the Desert at Sunset Near the Iraqi Border
An American Humvee Drives Through the Desert at Sunset Near the Iraqi Border

As I understand it, the US government does not often release data on the number of enemies killed or captured in its Iraq war. The media makes sure we know how many US soldiers and citizens are casualties of the war, and gives an estimate of the deaths among Iraqi civilians. These deaths are most often inflicted by terrorists - yes, terrorists, al-Qaeda or otherwise, who use car bombs and guns and regularly attack innocents as a way of getting at our weak-bellied American resolve.

This week, we have some statistics:

Over the weekend, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed more than 60 insurgent and militia fighters
No Iraqi civilians or U.S. soldiers were hurt.

Iraqi soldiers had killed 44 "terrorists" over the past 24 hours (Sunday).
It said 52 fighters were arrested altogether.

Just a bit of encouragement. Also, the number of civilian and US casualties in Iraq is down by about 50% this month from last. The number is still near a thousand in September, which is tragic. But it is war. The ever-present knowledge of mortality might be what is contributing to the massive interest in Christianity in the Middle East, as widely reported by Christian missions agencies.

To God be all glory.

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