BAGHDAD, Mar. 1, 2008
Iraq Deaths Up, U.S. Deaths Down In Feb.
American Troop Fatalities Decline Last Month, But Civilian Toll Higher Compared To January
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A U.S. soldier of Charlie Company 1-15 Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat team, 3rd Infantry Division, passes next to a wall painted with the Iraqi flag during a routine patrol in Salman Pak, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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Pallbearers carry the casket of U.S. Army Spc. Chad Groepper, 21, whose funeral service was held at the Kingsley-Pierson, Iowa High School on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2007. Groepper died during combat on Feb. 17, as a result of small-arms fire in the Diyala province. (AP/J. Menenga, Sioux City Journal)
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
Troop fatalities declined from 40 in January, and also dropped steeply from February 2007, when at least 81 troops died in Iraq.
But Iraqi casualties increased compared with January, although violence was reduced substantially from a year ago.
The AP count revealed at least 739 Iraqi security forces and civilians were either killed or found dead last month, up from 610 in January, which had the lowest monthly death toll since the end of 2005.
In February 2007, at least 1,801 Iraqis were killed.
The statistics on casualties are considered a minimum, and are based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted.
Three factors are widely credited with reducing violence in Iraq over the past six months: an increase in U.S. troop levels; a cease-fire by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia; and the decision by tens of thousands of Sunni fighters to accept U.S. funding and turn against al Qaeda in Iraq.
At least 3,973 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to the AP's count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,237 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Since the invasion of Iraq, only two months have had a lighter U.S. death tolls than February, the AP found. They were last December, when 23 deaths were reported, and the month of February 2004, when 20 American troops died. Last month's troop fatalities included three non-combat deaths.
Insurgent Leader Apprehended
The U.S. military announced the capture Saturday of an insurgent leader who was recruiting and training women, including his wife, to wrap themselves in explosives and blow themselves up - the latest sign that al Qaeda in Iraq plans to keep using women to carry out suicide attacks.
The military said the man was arrested Thursday in an operation near the town of Kan Bani Sad, north of Baghdad in Diyala province - still an al Qaeda hotbed.
"The ringleader was a man trying to recruit women to carry out SVEST (suicide vest) bombings. The cell leader used his wife and another woman, to act as carriers of his next SVEST attack," the military said.
Women have recently been used more frequently by al Qaeda in Iraq as bombers, with six attacks or attempted attacks this year alone, according to U.S. military statistics. That's out of a total of 19 such attacks since the U.S.-led invasion began in 2003, Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said in a recent briefing.
The latest included two women with a history of psychiatric treatment who killed about 100 people at pet markets in Baghdad on Feb. 1.
It remains unclear if al Qaeda has begun using women because it has been unable to recruit new insurgents or because they are more difficult to detect.
In Other Developments:
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 69 CommentsNEW WORLD ORDER is real and is about to have their 1 world everything very soon!,did you see canada and the USA merged armys for CIVIL UNREST?Not even a vote cast by our elected officials and they bare preoccupied looking into steroids?*** is going on you people cant see it???what is wrong with you people?RON PAUL IS THE ONLY SANE PERSON IN WASHINGTON AND I HOPE YOU DONT ELECT HIM SO YOU CAN ALL SUFFER FROM YOUR IGNORANCE!!!F/U idiots that didnt read the memo about the main stream media and didnt educate yourselves!LOL BYE-BYE DOLLAR,BYE-BYE ECONOMY,bye-bye weak minded migets that could not recognize the truth when they hear it!
But the sad thing is Mcain still wants NAFTA!
Posted by dumbshun at 01:20 PM : Mar 02, 2008
If this happened over here we would be in big trouble! Because nobody would post!
aFTER i POST MINE i READ YOURS AND YOU HAD ME LAUGHFIN ON THE GROUND!
I think there is 8 or 9 different post names as the same person saying both sides.
Thats what I think!
I am still an idiot
Way to go, Bush!
My place in hell is secure!
Posted by jerr11 at 11:27 AM : Mar 02, 2008
Hang in there, you can still turn it around
Darfur - Tens of thousands dead, killed by greedy warlords.
Iraq - Tens of thousands dead, killed by greedy oilmen.
Way to go, Bush!
Your place in hell is secure!
War Pig Liebermann was the Senate mentor of Sullivan''s little crack smoking playmate, Obama. Obama endorsed him over an anti-war candidate. Obama and Clinton have Zionist support and Merchant of Death support.
If you vote for these three you are condemning this nation to at least four more years of Bush doctrine.
Just look what the Dems did after winning in 2006!-- Instead of withdrawing, they supported the launch of the surge!
If you vote for them you are excusing the 935 lies of the Demopublican Regime.
If you vote for them you are supporting this war AND THE NEXT ONE!!
The Oligarchy''s Stooges don''t want to talk about the AIPAC spies...they don''t want to talk about abrogating NAFTA and ending once and for all any talk of a North American Union and the Trans Texas Corridor and the host of other building projects they have for putting an end to the American Middle Class.
Hillary will "renegotiate"...and how long will that take a Regime that can''t put up a border fence to stem the flow of social services recipients into the United States in eight years while conducting a faux-war on terror?
Both wings of the Demopublican Party support the same things...they just package it differently for a different set of suckers...Vote Third Party! Vote Against the War Pig Regime!
Posted by exCoachKen at 08:23 AM : Mar 02, 2008
But McVet is sane? yes or no?
www.obamatruth.org
www.stop-obama.
org
Posted by terrorislama at 06:33 AM : Mar 02, 2008
- What this biggot site doesn''t mention is the extra responsibilities that Michelle Obama took before the 100,000$ increase in her salary.
-Unfortunately, the American Health system is mainly private, and matter of fact it opens the door for profiteering thieves to pocket huge performance amounts.
-So the RePukons, NeoCons are defending the poor and the uninsured? Let me Laugh My A$$ Out Loud and I''ll get back to you, Liar bigot! Why don''t you look at G Walking-Liar Bush and his cronies who owe the country Trillions of Dollars in PROVOKED DEFICITS?
-Just for your simplistic information : a Trillion is one thousand Billions, a Billion is one thousand Millions and a Million is one thousand thousands. Just to give you an idea about how exagerated this site is regarding this explosive TRUTH about Obama.
-Now why don''t you give us some crispy fresh informations about your Repukons and Evangelists Gods, IDIOT?
I''''m starting to become a libereral now. I''''m starting to get enlighted by the liberal movement. I think I''''m going to vote for Hillary..........
PSYCHE!!!!!!! EAT SHIIT AND DIE LIBERALS.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. YOU FRIGGIN'''' CLOWNS....... I WOULD NEVER SUCCUMB TO THE DISEASE OF THIS COUNTRY - LIBERALISM......
God is great!
Posted by terrorsalami at 10:02 PM : Mar 01, 2008
I guess we''re not killing enough people to show the people who kill people that killing people is wrong.
The surge is working! (with a little help from some free cash from Gen Santa Betrayus)
Let''s stay there for 100 glorious more years!
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Posted by Iceman_1960 at 06:57 PM : Mar 01, 2008
ROFL! Hillary didn''t decide it first, so Obama hasn''t got there yet!
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