Since 2004, ordinary Iraqis have paid a heavy price for their freedom. Over 26,000 people have been injured or killed in insurgent attacks. The vast majority of casualties inflicted by Islamic radicals in Iraq have been at the expense of Iraq’s civilian population. The majority of these attacks have occurred in Sunni dominated provinces in central Iraq. These insurgent groups, including Al Qaeda in Iraq have made it clear that anyone in Iraq is a potential target, regardless of whether they are muslims or not.

Militant Al Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has made it clear that his war is not just with the United States. His war is with the very idea of democracy and it is with the Iraqi people, if they embrace the idea of democracy. The insurgents are determined to affect their own version of regime change on the Iraqi landscape. Just as the Bush administration wants Iraq to serve as a model for democracy in the Middle East, the terrorists also want Iraq to serve as a model for Islamic militantism and their twisted vision of the future. They see Iraq as an opportunity to foment revolution, but Iraq isn’t the only battleground in this conflict. These militants have a global agenda, as manifested by the recent terror attacks in India, the words of Iran’s president, and countless recent examples of radical Islam’s march into history.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/10/30/iraq.casualties/index.html