March 31,
2008: A standard U.S. benchmark of activity in Iraq is the number of daily
attacks. This peaked at a little over 200 a day in the Summer of 2007. A third
of those involved IEDs (roadside bombs). About half of those were bombs that
went off, the other half were bombs discovered and destroyed. This activity has since declined to about 70
attacks a day in February. But about 60
percent of those were just IEDs, and two thirds of the IED activity consisted
of finding and destroying the roadside bombs before they could be used on
anyone. About a third of the attacks were what are normally thought of
"attacks." That is, someone firing guns, RPGs or mortar shells at American or
Iraqi troops.
The
attacks most likely to made the news are the large suicide bombs, usually
directed at civilians. These peaked in March, 2007, when there were 130 of
them. This has since declined to about 40 a month. Moreover, many more of them
are now smaller, usually individuals wearing bomb vests. For a long time, these
were a minority of the attacks, usually 5-15 a month. But in the last few
months, they are now about half the attacks.
