In a May 1 column, The Federalist's Mark Alexander claimed that the recent spike in casualties among American soldiers in Iraq coincides with what he described as Senator John Kerry's increased focus on Iraq and expression of “dissenting views on our mission” there. Alexander wrote:

In the year since the cessation of major hostilities, America's resolve in our war against Jihadistan has been under relentless assault -- not so much by the Jihadis themselves, but by the political ambitions of Demo-presidential contenders and their Leftmedia minions...

In the 15 months since the coalition's invasion of Iraq, 736 American service personnel have been killed. But more than a fourth of those troops have been killed in just the last two months -- a period coinciding with the end of the Democrat presidential primary. What, you ask, is our point? Merely that this is precisely the moment when John Kerry's dissenting views on our mission in Iraq became the central focus of his political campaign -- as broadcast around the world.

Mark Alexander is executive editor and publisher of The Federalist, which calls itself “the Internet's Journal of Record for the conservative revolution inspired by Ronald Reagan,” and is a member group of The Heritage Foundation's conservative Internet community Townhall.com. Alexander's column appears on both Townhall.com and The Federalist's website. The Federalist also sponsors PatriotPetitions.com, an online petition drive to counter what it calls, according to a report in the March 3, 2003, Washington Times, “anti-American” and “anti-war” petitions and ad campaigns organized by “Hollywood and academic leftists.”