Flit

TWO IMPORTANT IRAQ WAR POSTMORTEMS

The second draft of history on this spring's Iraq war is being written, as the seasoned military academics are coming out with their first conclusions.

Carl Conetta has what will probably be the closest approximation to the truth we're going to get on Iraqi civilian and military casualties out. His work on the Afghan war was top-notch, and this is no worse. Particularly interesting are his conclusions on artillery: even using improved conventional munitions, the Coalition did no better than a ratio of 15 rounds per Iraqi fatality.

Even more importantly, the brilliant Stephen Biddle, whose work on both the 1991 and Afghan wars profoundly changed the way many soldiers viewed those conflicts, has shared his first conclusions on this year's fighting. He doesn't have a paper out yet, but Phil Carter links to a Powerpoint presentation by Biddle which gives us a pre-taste.