76% of terrorist attacks fail according to latest numbers

Don't expect to see a big deal made of this in the MSM. WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The death toll among U.S. troops in Iraq dropped back to average levels in December and January after a bloody autumn, and U.S. officials said on Tuesday insurgent attacks have been waning since October. The number of attacks conducted by insurgents has dwindled from more than 700 per week in the first week of October, just before the Oct. 15 referendum on a new Iraqi constitution, to the current level of about 430 per week, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. This counts all attacks against U.S. and other foreign troops, Iraqi government security forces, civilians and infrastructure targets, Johnson said. Attacks that cause damage or casualties are considered "effective." "They've had a fairly consistent effectiveness rate of about 24 percent throughout that period," Johnson said. I thought that was pretty interesting, and though I'd love to credit our troops with foiling all of those terrorist attacks, it's more realistically a combination of our troops, Iraqi troops, and the terrorists' incompetence. While it's far from perfect, it's something to congratulate our troops and the Iraqis on. The article goes on to say that IED attacks have doubled in the past year and are the leading cause of injury and death to our troops in Iraq. I interpret that to mean there are fewer terrorists available to carry out suicide bombings and gunfights with our troops. Perhaps those numbers mean we are capturing or killing the terrorists in the act, before they can carry out their attacks. Perhaps the terrorists' message is beginning to lose some of the luster it may have had initially as Iraqis see the possibilities offered them by a free, democratic society. Perhaps we have been capturing more potential terrorists as they try to enter the country at better secured borders with Iran and Syria. Perhaps.