Pace: Iraq Deaths Don't Mean Failure: "If you had zero violence, and people weren't feeling good..."

WP: Iraq Deaths Don't Mean Failure, Pace Says
By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 22, 2007; Page A13

The recent rise in U.S. troop deaths in Iraq is the "wrong metric" to use in assessing the effectiveness of the new security strategy for Baghdad, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday in a news conference with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

Despite military reports to Congress that use numbers of attacks and overall levels of violence as an important gauge of Iraq's security status, Gates and Pace told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday that violence is not a useful measure of progress. Setting the stage for mandatory reports to Congress in September, both officials said violence could go up in the summer months as troops try to give the Iraqi government time to set the country on the right track.

"If you had zero violence and people were not feeling good about their future, where are you?" said Pace, emphasizing that the sentiment of the Iraqi people is a much better measurement than the number of attacks. "So it's not about levels of violence. It's about progress being made, in fact, in the minds of the Iraqi people, so that they have confidence in their government in the way forward."

Pace and Gates acknowledged that violence could rise -- as it has in recent days, when at least a dozen U.S. troops have been killed -- but said the number of attacks has gone up largely because there are more U.S. brigades in harm's way. Pace said that the number of attacks per brigade has not increased but that the enemy in Iraq has focused on inflicting greater U.S. casualties because it wants to affect the American public's view of the war....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/21/AR2007062101204.html?nav=hcmodule

"Iraq has focused on inflicting greater U.S. casualties because it wants to affect the American public's view of the war...."

Insanity definitely rules in America right now.

Iraqi's and their allies are fighting back because they've been invaded by an aggressor nation that has destroyed so much of their country and its people. But wait.. no, it's really about our country's media perception... not about flesh and blood people being so wrongfully and unjustly killed, harmed, and displaced.

Also, newsflash to Pace. The vast majority of Americans are already totally against this war and want us out.

Sue

:crazy:

Like the office space efficiency-casualty.

:rofl:

Uh - "alive"?

I can't believe this guy. 100% grade-A loony-tunes.

I want some of what he's smokin cause it must be some potent stuff!

Trust General Pace to prove the point.

Jayzus fucking kee-rist, measure the deaths in real terms and real meaning. Don't just dismiss their import cause it's inconvenient to the Decider - Pace's fellator.