Death Metrics

A remarkable report from the Mudville Gazette, a milblog from Iraq. Interspersed throughout the essay are repeated articles detailing the weapons caches found because of tips from Iraqi citizens. MG's central point is that it is these stories, not the list of the dead, which tell whether we will win or not. This should be obvious, but is nearly invisible in the legacy media. Deaths are the cost, not the measurement, of the war.

But I'm not a fan of death metrics. Up, down, and chaotic - an exceptionally low month means it will be quite easy for the next month to be higher - a helicopter crash could do it. And there are many possible reasons for this decrease, ranging from "neighborhood ethnic cleansing goals achieved" or "militias biding their time" to "Victory is ours!" And you'll hear them all from people pointing to the wrong numbers to support their claim: the numbers from the morgue.

But few people are paying attention to what those of us who are here fighting this war might have to say. Everyone is focused on the death metrics, and everyone is wrong. Call it "hearts and minds" or people fighting for their lives and futures who do not fear turning to us for help and helping us in return without fear of retribution from an enemy falling fast - these are the numbers that tell the tale. These are the numbers that indicate something worthwhile. These are the numbers that will drive the death metrics further down and keep them there.

Read the whole thing.