A Great Fall

This wasn't the sweetest picture of Humpty, but the sunglasses leant something of Bono from U2, and somehow that seemed appropriate.

''Four years into the war that opened with 'shock and awe,' U.S. warplanes have again stepped up attacks in Iraq, dropping bombs at more than twice the rate of a year ago [237 bombs and missiles in the first four months of 2007, surpassing the 229 expended in all of 2006, according to Air Force figures.] (American Airstrikes in Iraq Rise Above '06 Total).''

By my reckoning, if this rate holds consistent, then we are dropping munitions at four times the rate of last year. Likewise, the rate seems to have quadrupled in Afghanistan, with 929 munition dropped thus far this year, versus 404 for all of 2005 (curiously, 2006 is omitted.)

''At the same time, the number of civilian Iraqi casualties from U.S. airstrikes appears to have risen sharply, according to Iraq Body Count, a London-based, anti-war research group that maintains a database compiling news media reports on Iraqi war deaths.''

That group bases their admittedly conservative death tally on news reports, counting those killed by Army helicopter fire as well as by warplanes, but it ''doesn't include deaths missed by the international media.''

''The U.S. military says it doesn't track civilian casualties.'' Why?

Wouldn't it seem appropriate for the Iraqi government or the U.S. government to transparently release these figures?

''Meanwhile Tuesday, a suicide car bomber struck a group of tribal chiefs who opposed al-Qaida, killing at least 18 in a market area near Fallujah.''

Yep, car bombers are bad news. But is an Iraqi civilian any less dead if killed by a U.S. munition versus an improvised explosive device in a car? Munition sure sounds tidier, but both go boom and kill people indiscriminately.

Further in line with COIN operations, do our pilots mix with the people to win their hearts and minds? Maybe only the ground troops need perform this function, while the fly boys blow them to hell. A one-two punch guaranteed to sow seeds of distrust among the alternately wooed/bombed populations.

Democracy and munitions are a hard combo to beat. But all the munitions in the U.S. inventory are not going to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again.

They can only further rent his fragile shell.