American deaths in Iraq were higher in July than June, up even more in August, and September was bloodier still, a casualty trend Senator Kerry tried to use to his advantage in the presidential debates.
October opened with an election pending but supposedly tenuous in Afghanistan.
Australian participation in the Iraq campaign was a key issue in the electoral challenge to the Howard government.
The American presidential campaign was in full swing and had to be a choice target.
October is now over. Afghanistan went to the polls with little incident. The appeasement movement failed in Australia. The American political season continued free of any successful terrorist activity, short of a video tape. And, despite an increased pressure on Islamist strongholds such as Fallujah, American deaths in Iraq were down from September and August (as of this writing).
October — a month of impotence and failure for the Islamist bastards. It’s a shame so many will go to the polls tomorrow in America with little or no knowledge of the coalition’s recent successes. As the saying goes, a building that doesn’t burn isn’t news, and apparently a story that doesn’t burn President Bush needs no fanfare.