The Common Ills: They can't all be terrorists

Sunday, August 03, 2014

They can't all be terrorists

How many 'terrorists' does Iraq have?

Let's just look at Saturday.

NINA reports Baghdad Operations Command declared they killed 5 today outside Baghdad and, okay, maybe. They're actually suspects. But let's pretend they were proven to be terrorists before they were killed. Five terrorists? Okay, that's plausible.

But also the National Information Center claims 30 terrorists were killed "south of Baghdad."

Well that's 35.

And 16 terrorists, Iraqi security insisted in a press statement, were killed in Hawija.

Okay, 51.

And military intelligence announced they killed 50 terrorists in Court Saadia.

That's 101. Then there's the Air Force insisting they killed 15 terrorists -- and wounded 40 more -- in Jurfis-Sakhar.

So that's 156 killed or wounded.

And, in other areas of Iraq, the Air Force claims they killed 200 more terrorists.

That's 356 dead or wounded in one day.

356 terrorists if you're as stupid as Nouri al-Maliki is.

This is a typical day in Iraq, typical for every day this year. For seven months now, hundreds of 'terrorists' have been killed daily.

Does no one see the problem with this?

Does no one want to call this out?

People are being killed and wounded.

But if a couple of hundred being killed and wounded every day are terrorists, that's amazing.

That would be a minimum of 6300 terrorists killed or wounded since January.

Were things to continue at this rate for the full year, that would be over 12,600 -- well over -- terrorists in Iraq who were killed or wounded

'Terrorist' is a term Nouri's thrown around repeatedly since 2006. He's applied it to journalists, to peaceful protesters, to political rivals, to the Vice President of Iraq, and so much more.

Can they really all be terrorists?

And if they are, why are Iraqi forces so scared of terrorists?

All 356 killed or wounded?

Done so from the air. Aerial bombings.

Nouri's forces are unable to confront 'terrorists' face to face but they can carpet bomb cities and towns and announce the dead were terrorists.

The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley, Jake Tapper, Cindy Sheehan, Susan's On the Edge, Antiwar.com, the Guardian, and NPR music -- updated: