New Scoring Method

We keep reading that x number of soldiers were killed and wounded today, and the same type of report about the innocent Iraqi people who are trying to buy food. Yessir, we all know about how many soldiers have died (though it is rarely broken down into accidents vs. armed conflict).

At least during the Viet Nam war the number of alleged enemy killed was published. After all, the genius McNamara had a spreadsheet that would show we can't lose if the daily ratio of kills were met. You gotta love geniuses.

Permit me to posit a fantasy sports score reportage for tonight:

In a stunner, Syracuse's Orangemen scored 81 points. Then in an overtime battle, North Carolina ran up 79 points in a tough, see-saw game. In Hockey, the Rangers skated well scoring 3.

Pretty stupid way to keep score.

So, you say, but we are not keeping score in a war.

Like hell, we aren't. That is the nature of war, though no longer war reportage. Today, we are suppose to believe, if someone is killed, we had better stop. If one believes that, he or she should not have voted to use force. It is a binary thing.

Below is real war reportage, old school style. You will see keeping score means something in the real world, as does useful commentary. The battle discussed below was at the very end of the past January. A longer article can be found here,
That article, in the Australian, noted that about of the third killed were from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

Iraqi Forces Kill Cult Leader Who Claimed To Be The Islamic Messiah

Iraqi military forces -- backed up by U.S. and British forces and helicopters -- scored a big victory in Najaf over the past several days. "The final toll in the military operations north of holy Najaf totalled 263 [terrorists] killed, and 502 [terrorists] arrested including 210 injured," Iraqi spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said Tuesday. Askiri said Iraqi forces had seized "500 weapons and 11 mortar tubes along with numerous pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns and very important documents."

The impressively executed operation was a testament to the steadily improving combat capabilities and discipline of the Iraqi forces, especially since these were mostly Shiite soldiers fighting against Shiite insurgents. [My emphasis] President Bush has promised Americans that the U.S. will stand down when the Iraqi forces are ready to stand up. The past few days are evidence that Iraqi forces are getting closer to being ready to assume full command of their country, despite the carping of the critics in Washington.

Perhaps most interesting was that Iraqi forces killed the commander of a Shiite militia, a cult leader who actually claimed to be the Islamic Messiah (or Mahdi). The armed cult known the "Soldiers of Heaven" was plotting to assasinate top Shiite religious leaders in Najaf as part of an effort to bring about the end of the world.

"He claimed to be the Mahdi," Shirwan al-Waeli, Iraq's National Security Minister, said of the cult's leader, adding that the cult leader had used the full name "Mahdi bin Ali bin Ali bin Abi Taleb," claiming descent from the Prophet Mohammad. "One of the signs of the coming of the Mahdi was to be the killing of the Ulema (hierarchy) in Najaf," Waeli told Reuters. "This was a perverse claim. No sane person could believe it." Waeli said that when police first approached the militia camp, the cult leader answered: "I am the Mahdi and I want you to join me." Iraqi officials says they have arrested other Shiites claiming to be messengers of the Mahdi, further evidence that an apocalyptic fervor -- largely inspired by Iran -- is spreading through the Shiite world.

Match this against a report: