PREDICTION: Insurgent attacks will now level off or decrease

Now that the media-hyped number of 2,000 American military deaths (God rest their souls) in Iraq has come and passed, the insurgent activity will begin to fall back to the low levels last seen before the rise that occurred during October.

Why?

Because this arbitrary and more-symbolism-than-substance number of 2,000 was so trumpeted by the American mainstream media as some kind of milestone in the weeks leading to the occurrence, the insurgents couldn't help but use it as a rallying point for their cause.

We know they are watching our news outlets (see al-Zawahiri letter to leaders of the Iraqi insurgency), and they used the maintream media faux milestone as a goal to achieve.

So, if you're an insurgent, wouldn't you have wanted to be the one to get the infidels over the 2,000 casualty mark and possibly strike at the morale of the American people and affect a withdrawal? By the way the media was sounding, that's all it was going to take for the American people to turn completely against the war effort.

Now that the insurgents have reached their American media manufactured milestone, their activity will taper off, and their morale will take a hit as they see the American people are not as easily swayed by symbolism as the media.

Final thought: This number was highlighted by those with an anti-war agenda and not those truly concerned for the situation in Iraq. Those truly concerned about the war effort don't ascribe death number 2000 any more importance or significance than death number 1 - they are all a tragedy.

They'd Earn a Purple Heart in Kerry's Army

Although very brave for fighting to maintain freedom in their central asian country, the Christian Science Monitor reports that soldiers in the Afghan National Army are prone to shooting themselves in the foot.

But the ANA still have a disconcerting habit of shooting themselves with their own weapons. "The problem is muzzle discipline," says 2nd Lieut. Ben Wisnioski, a commander of an ANA unit based in Qalat. In the week before the elections, Lieutenant Wisnioski lost three ANA soldiers to self-inflicted wounds.

As we learned in the last presidential campaign, one of democrat presidential candidate John Kerry's Purple Hearts may have been the result of a self-inflicted wound. If the ANA, or anyone for that matter, had access to the requested-but-never-turned-over Kerry service records then the wounded soldiers could see how to write up their citation for an award.

Let's check back in a few years to see if any of these soldiers oppose current Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in their next election.