Suicide bombings boost body count in Iraq for July

Iraqi police say three suspects have been arrested over a suicide bombing during a protest rally in Kirkuk that killed at least 25 people.

The attack was part of a wave of violence that claimed the lives of at least 56 people across Iraq overnight.

(abc.net.au)

This set of suicide attacks resembles a concerted effort on its face. The enemy, perhaps AQI, used female suicide bombers in Baghdad and went for big crowds. The attacks in Kirkuk, as described above, also targeted large crowds.

I got to wondering. Do terrorist types hoping to prolong the Iraq War look at casualty counts and see the political implications? I certainly do. Why wouldn't a terrorist get it in his head that high civilian casualty numbers can aid his cause politically?

The civilian death from violence numbers at icasualties.org were prepared to continue their dropping trend--that trend might yet continue for July despite this rash of suicide bombings. Is it possible that the enemy conducted the attacks primarily to boost the numbers?

While I would admit that it is probably more likely that the bombings were intended to stir up sectarian strife as with the Golden Mosque bombing years ago, the possibility is not far-fetched. I think it likely that the enemy keeps in mind the way casualty numbers impact their aims in terms of national and international politics, even if it is not the primary motivation for bombing attacks.

Those of us (I have to count myself) who use civilian body counts to measure success in the war may well end up helping to motivate our enemies to kill more civilians.