I've wondered about this too (he says, impersonating Glenn Reynolds). Apart from the road signs, are there other efforts to inform civilians of how to respond (and how not to respond) to interaction with troops? Do we need the Iraqi equivalent of those "choking" signs at restaurants? It seems like there's so much confusion about this, and that's bad for both the civilians and the military guys.
They've been blowing people away at checkpoints for two solid years. And checkpoints are the only method they have of interdicting movement of explosives, so they have to 'catch the terrorists by surprise'. (Since control of the countryside has been effectively lost.)
Clearly, this indicates the killings will continue.
ash
['I thought the whole thing was stupid to begin with.']