Here’s an interesting point from a reader, marred by some really dopey vitriol at the end:
I saw a DoD chart a few days ago that shows that violence always drops in Iraq in Jan., Feb., and Mar. of any given year (as to why is an interesting question, is it cooler? Don’t crimes in the U.S. spike when it is hotter out?). So I am thinking that when violence dips in the next few months as a cyclical occurrence, the White House will start throwing out a bunch of spin and selective charts showing how violence has dipped since December and tout it as winning and their plan working. Of course the naive and unserious pundits will buy it hook, line, and sinker. You don’t have to thank me for giving you a head’s up Joe, just go tell some guy without legs you are sorry for being an enabler.
Part of the winter casualty drop is attributable to good luck and timing: In 2004, we had just caught Saddam Hussein with an attache case full of documents and had the Baathists on the run. Jan-March 2004 were our most successful stretch of the war, which isn’t saying much. In 2005, there were elections, which meant elevated troop levels. But the reader does have a point–people are less irritable when it isn’t 120 degrees fahrenheit without air conditioning…
As for the dopey denoument–Henceforth, any and all ad hominem “pundit scum” arguments will be automatically ignored. You want to argue substance, fine. You want to make an onanistic fool of yourself, you have my sympathy but not my attention.