WMD

[Gen. Volkov]

'04 and '05 are a bit higher an a per day basis on average, but I don't know where you got 47% percent from. The numbers are just too varied if you go month to month. What I did was take the total deaths for that year, and then divide by the number of days in that year that we were there. I came up with 1.6 deaths per day in '03 vs. 2.3 deaths per day in '04/'05, that's a 31% percent rise. But given the variable nature of each month, it's just number manipulation. If looked at statistically, I don't think there would be a significant difference. Like you said, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. Oh and those are for both accidental/friendly fire deaths and deaths due to enemy action.

Oh, and about the Zarqawi letter/note, I would hope, after 3 years, that we are getting pretty good at translating. I'm just gonna hafta trust that the letter is real until it is proven otherwise. Besides, it seems to be an internal memo, which we have never read before, so it's hard to tell exactly how it should read. But I think it is credible because it seems like the insurgency is losing steam, and that less people are dying.