Newsmen injured in Iraq

ABC anchorman Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt have been injured by an IED attack in Iraq. They have undergone surgery in Iraq, and will be flown to U.S. medical facilities in Landstuhl, Germany, for further treatment. The attacks are just another reminder of how dangerous Iraq truly is for foreigners and Iraqis alike. These attacks have given no real tactical or strategic advantage to the enemies of Iraq, not in the conventional sense.

Still no word on journalist Jill Carroll who was kidnapped in Iraq and threatened with execution. This kidnapping has given the enemy no strategic or tactical advantage.

Jill Carroll was in Iraq trying to help Iraqi people and tell their story... but the terrorists are certainly no strangers to attacking those trying to help: Margarat Hassan had lived in Iraq for 30 years, was married to an Iraqi, and had been working for Care International since 1991. She had been the head of operations for 12 years when she was kidnapped and subsequently murdered. Many other civilians, journalists, and aid workers have been ruthlessly murdered. These senseless killings have given the enemies of Iraq no strategic or tactical advantage.

Then what is the purpose of the attacks, kidnappings, killings, sabotage, and senseless violence carried out by these insurgents and extremists? Many of the groups have plainly stated their goals: to drive the coalition forces out of Iraq and to overthrow the Iraqi government. It is not possible for the insurgents to win a military victory, but their tactics seem to be to wage a war of attrition. The insurgents are trying to convince people that "it's just not worth it." Creating an environment that is the most dangerous in the world while sabotaging reconstruction efforts seems to be the strategy. Various strategies aimed at inciting civil war have also emerged, but they appear just as futile.

And so as the enemies carry out these desperate and irrational attacks they will create countless victims, of which Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt have now joined.