Pandagon points out this wonderful quote from Wolfowitz:

The number two Pentagon official said reducing American casualties in Iraq was more important than bringing US troops back home — and pointed to the rising Iraqi death toll as evidence this strategy was working.

“I’m more concerned about bringing down our casualties than bringing down our numbers,” Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said in an interview with PBS television’s “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” program. “And it is worth saying that since June 1, there have been more Iraqi police and military killed in action than Americans.”

I’m sure the U.S. soldiers and Americans everywhere appreciate that Wolfowitz is concerned about bringing down the casualty rates in theater. I’m sure that Wolfowitz values all human life and would like there to be no casualties. This seems a poor way to express any of those sentiments, though. Think about it… the best way to describe how we’re helping lower U.S. casualties is to cite higher Iraqi death tolls? Maybe he’s doing this because January casualty figures don’t back him up. At least more soldiers seem to be suffering lighter injuries (they’re being treated in theater rather than being evac’d), so maybe he’s not completely full of it.