Military roundup. Countercolumn on body counts: 'Maj D notices that coalition casualties this month are way down. In fact, the casualty rate for September is less than half of what it was in August and the lowest since March - "despite" a series of offensive operations in the north and west. I put "despite" in quotation marks because I would argue that the low casualty figures are BECAUSE of the offensive operations, not despite them. What explains the difference? I would venture that the increasing prominence of Iraqi forces is largely behind the lower casualty figures. As the Iraqi forces develop, they take on more of the burden of combat operations themselves, and so represent a lower portion of casualties.' We need to start paying attention to the sacrifices made by our Iraqi allies. Go to Mudville Gazette - Dawn Patrol for links to the latest on washroom facilities, a Lincolnesque eulogy for the fallen, and much more. And in a timeless photograph, a Marine pays a tribute across the battlefield: Gunny Burghardt says hi.
Hawk sightings. Refusing to let the peaceniks have all the fun, pro-military demonstrators managed to grab some headlines: Mudville Gazette on counter-protests links to GlobalCop's round-up of photos from "embedded" sources.Jonah's military guys link to "You don't speak for me, Cindy!" Don't let the title fool you at Blackfive: Media covers pro-military families - the MSM are "covering" the event in about the way you'd expect. But at lest they're covering it.
Corporal Tibor Rubin, Medal of Honor. Jason's post at Countercolumn - NYT on Rubin has a few words for the Times' perfunctory coverage of this event: 'Perversely, the allegations of anti-semitism in the Army receive more space in the article than Rubin's own heroism. These guys just HATE anything that has to do with the virtue of the America Fighting Man.' Alcibiades at Kesher Talk has more on this concentration camp survivor who became a hero to his fellow POWs in the Korean War. Rubin, now 76, is now entitled to receive salutes from even the highest-ranking military officers.
