There is considerable bloodshed, but little battle, in most accounts of the war in Iraq. Acts of terrorism and small-unit skirmishes, not the clash of armies, define the conflict And although the condition of Iraqis under arms or the demographic breakdown of an election may offer the best evidence as to whether we are winning or losing, neither gives the same visceral clarity as the rout of an army or the fall of a city. It is hard to follow counterinsurgency operations on a campaign map.
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