Is Iraq 75% Full or 25% Empty?

McCain jumped on the bus this morning brandishing a USA Today: "See this? See this?" He said, pointing to the headline, "75% of Baghdad Secure."

I asked, "What does that mean, exactly? What is the 75 percent a percentage of? Population?Acreage? Decrease in violence"

"Does that matter?" McCain replied, his light irony segueing into mock outrage. "Look at that headline!" He shook the paper for emphasis. McCain is acutely aware the extent to which his own candidacy was revived, in part, by changing fortunes in Iraq. And he delights in the news itself, though, as he pointed out later, "it has come at great cost, paid with the most precious American treasure."

The seventy-five percent, it turns out, is the proportion of Baghdad neighborhoods (specifically, 356 of 474). Next question: "What's the metric to decide whether a neighborhood is secure?"

McCain started skimming the article, then, with just a trace of impatience, explained, "If people can get out of their homes and go to work and live their lives, it's secure."

That fuzzy measure actually turns out to be pretty close to the official metric, which defines "secure" as "enemy activity in those areas has been mostly eliminated and normal economic activity is resuming." Further fake specificity splits "secure" into two levels, one where forces can "maintain the peace," and one where forces can "maintain order." Order is apparently more secure and "permanent" than peace. "American-style democracy," indeed.