In addition to the 2,414 US soldier deaths in Iraq and the official 17,648 soldiers wounded, the Iraq war has been extremely deadly for journalists. (Casualties in Iraq)
According to Freedom Forum, (a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to freedom of the press) there have been 74 journalists killed in Iraq since 2003. This CBC news article points out that more journalists died in Iraq than in either World War II or Vietnam and Cambodia.
I’m not sure if this can be attributed to there being more journalists in Iraq, or if the situation in Iraq is just more dangerous for journalists than in other wars. I suspect that there is more terrorism happening in Iraq as a result of the country being on the brink of a civil war which puts journalists at a higher risk. I have always maintained my belief that the war in Iraq is not going to combat terrorism, but increase terrorism in the world.
There have already been reports release in the US that indicate that terrorism has indeed increased since the war started in 2003, and I don’t see any sign of that slowing down. I think the new US President in 2008 will have a lot on his/her plate. President Bush has set the world and the US economy on a disaster course, so it will be up to the new President to turn this around. This will be no simple task. (See Iraq New Terror Breeding Ground – CIA Advisor report)
The only way I think terrorism can be decreased is by the US spending time and money to show the Muslim world that they do actually care and are willing to help. The US’ image in the Middle East is extremely low and every time Condoleeza Rice spits out her hardliner neo-con threats, the US image worsens. The US has made it clear that they aren’t willing to work with the newly elected democratic Palestinian government (See that, a fair democratic election!), which is also a blow to decreasing terrorism. Until the US Government does something to improve its image, terrorism will continue to rise.