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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: U.S. Military Has Fewest Iraq Deaths Since Invasion July 31 (Bloomberg) -- The number of American military members who died in Iraq dropped to 12 in July, the lowest monthly total since the 2003 invasion, as the U.S. said Iraqi forces were increasingly effective in combating militants. The deadliest month for U.S. forces in Iraq was November 2004, when 147 members of the military died. The toll for June was 30. The monthly figures were calculated by Bloomberg News from the Defense Department's daily totals through 10 a.m. Washington time yesterday. ``The significant reason for the sustained progress is the success of the surge,'' President George W. Bush said today at the White House, referring to last year's deployment of an additional 30,000 U.S. military members to Iraq. ``The other is the increasing capability of the Iraqi forces.'' Iraqi forces have demonstrated their enhanced performance during recent campaigns against militants in the cities of Basra, Baghdad, Mosul, Amara and Baquba, the U.S. military has said. The Iraqi police forces, including a national body and a border patrol unit, now number 371,000 and are growing, according to Interior Ministry figures. The Iraqi army, navy and support forces total around 194,000. The U.S. military has about 147,000 members in Iraq. ``The continued reduction in coalition and U.S. casualties is an encouraging indicator of the continued stability throughout Iraq and the increased capacity of the Iraqi security forces to engage in increasingly complex operations,'' U.S. military spokesman John Hall said today in an e-mailed statement. Opposing Al-Qaeda Persuading Iraqis to join movements opposed to al-Qaeda, including the Sons of Iraq and Awakening groups, also contributed to an overall fall in violence, the military has said. Since the invasion, a total of 4,128 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq, of whom 3,361 were killed in action. More than 30,000 have been wounded, 13,514 of them so seriously that they couldn't return to duty, the Defense Department said on its Web site. The Bush administration and the government in Baghdad are negotiating an agreement to determine the role of American troops after their United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year. Today is the initial deadline set for the two sides to reach an agreement. The extent and duration of the U.S. mission in Iraq has become a major issue in the presidential election. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has said he would withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, and called for reinforcement of the American forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Iraq isn't the central front in the campaign against terrorism, Obama argued earlier this month in an article published in the New York Times, adding that he would send as many as 10,000 more troops to fight in Afghanistan. Republican candidate John McCain, a firm supporter of the so-called surge in U.S. forces in Iraq, is opposed to setting deadlines for a withdrawal.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 5.
#5. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
Dollars are still dying at a high rate though.
#6. To: MUDDOG (#5)
Not to worry. They can always just print more to pay for the next war (and then wonder why the dollar went from being worth two Euros to half a Euro).
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