The MSM has spun the conditions in Iraq by, among other things, referring to the terrorists that bomb fellow Iraqis and US troops as "insurgents". They have made it appear as if such "insurgency" was a popular movement in Iraq, and as if our troops are  in grave danger in Iraq by remaining there. An analysis of the facts would seem to indicate it just ain't so.

See, there are about 26 million people in Iraq. Assuming 50% of those are adults, that would leave 13 million. Assuming even 50% of those were angry at the United States for our occupation, that would leave 6.5 million. Assumning half of those are male, let's pare it down further, to 3.25 million.

Now, let's assume that of those 3.25 million, 10% were willing to take action, to strike against the United States. That would take us down to 325,000. If there were about 300,000 Iraqis armed against us, I think it would be fair to consider that a popular uprising.

Our troop levels in Iraq are at about 150,000, half of that number of Iraqis. Because guerilla warfare operates on a "strike and run" philosophy, and not on the principle of gaining ground or military targets, it is often necessary for an opposing force to OUTNUMBER the guerillas in a given nation. We have seen the effectiveness of rather small bands of guerilla warriors on many Latin American playing fields, certainly often enough to understand this fact well. It's their turf, and they know it better than we do, with all of the nooks and crannies.

The relatively small death count (YES, every death matters, but the fact that there will be deaths in combat pretty much falls into the "duh" category, doncha think?) would indicate that the uprisings in Iraq don't have NEAR those numbers. Furthermore, the number of Iraqi dead (about 30,000, according to the most reliable accounts) would indicate that there never WERE anywhere near those numbers.