BAGHDAD, Aug. 1, 2008
July Sees Lowest U.S. Death Toll In Iraq
10 Troop Deaths Confirmed; Death Tolls For Iraqis Also Keep Falling Amid Security Gains
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A woman walks down a narrow street in west Baghdad, Iraq, July 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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President Bush makes a statement on Iraq, July 31, 2008, on the Colonnade of the White House in Washington, before leaving to spend the weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
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Interactive
Iraq: 5 Years At War
Five years after the U.S.-led invasion, the war wears on.
Iraqis also are dying at dramatically lower numbers with the war in its sixth year. July saw the lowest civilian toll since December 2005, though a series of suicide bombings this week and rising ethnic tensions in northern Iraq reflect the fragility of the security successes.
An Associated Press tally shows that at least 510 Iraqi civilians and security force members were killed in July, a 75 percent drop from the 2,021 deaths in the same period last year as the U.S. troop buildup aimed at quelling rampant Sunni-Shiite violence was nearing its peak.
The drastic decline in violence over the past year has led to increasing optimism among American commanders, who have been wary of declaring success after past lulls proved short-lived. It also has become a key issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.
"The progress is still reversible," President Bush said Thursday in Washington. But he said a new "degree of durability in gains" should permit him to announce further U.S. troop reductions later this year.
The last of five combat brigades sent as part of the so-called surge returned home in July, leaving about 145,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. That's still higher than the roughly 130,000-135,000 who were here before the troop increase.
But the American soldiers appear to be taking on more of a peacekeeping role after many Sunni and Shiite extremists agreed to stop fighting.
The U.S. military has pointed to a Sunni revolt against al Qaeda in Iraq and a truce by anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as playing a large part in the drop in violence, along with the troop buildup and improvements in training Iraqi security forces.
Baghdad - the site of the some of the worst sectarian violence that pushed the country to the brink of civil war - has been turned into a maze of concrete walls and checkpoints that make it difficult for militants to function.
"The key mission for the United States looking forward is to maintain the cease-fires and prevent people from going back to the warpath," said Stephen Biddle, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations who has advised the U.S. military command in Iraq.
"Their purpose in Iraq is increasingly changing from fighting a war to keeping a peace," he added in a telephone interview.
Altogether, 10 American fatalities were recorded in July, including six non-combat deaths. The bodies of two American soldiers missing after an attack last year were also found. There were 29 deaths the previous month. By contrast, July 2007 saw 80 deaths, according to AP figures.
The July 2008 figures could rise as the military sometimes announces deaths days after they occur.
"There is a reason to hope that it's going to stay very low," Biddle said, adding the current fighting is focused on "dealing with holdouts rather than trying to break the back of an ongoing insurgency."
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Iraqi casualty figures also have declined - despite sporadic high-profile attacks, including female suicide bombings that killed at least 57 people in Baghdad and the disputed northern city of Kirkuk on Monday.I am optimistic that the worst has passed and we will not see many bodies in the city anymore. The Iraqi people are no longer interested in continuing the cycle of violence.
Qais Rahim, Baghdad merchantJuly saw an average of at least 16 Iraqis killed each day compared to 65 each day in the same month last year. It was the third consecutive month this year with relatively lower violence levels for Iraqi civilians.
The change is especially evident at the central morgue in Baghdad, a brick building in a mainly Shiite neighborhood. At the height of the bloodshed, the facility was overwhelmed with the delivery of dozens of bodies on a daily basis. Relatives were afraid to collect the bodies because militiamen controlled the area.
Only 10 to 15 bodies are now received by the morgue each day, down from an average peak of 125, according to the Health Ministry's general-inspector, Adel Muhsin. He said some of the deaths were from natural causes.
"The situation is better now in the morgue," he said. "We received far fewer bodies because of the improved security situation. The current rate is close to any normal country."
Violence has been slower to decline in northern Iraq.
In Mosul on Thursday, a suicide car bomber killed three policemen and a judge died of gunshot wounds. Four bullet-riddled bodies, including three women, also were found in the city a day after an al Qaeda front group warned it was launching a new campaign of violence there.
Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, had 25 percent of the civilian deaths for July, a significantly higher rate than over the past year.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi military, meanwhile, pressed forward with a new operation meant to rout insurgents from rural safe havens in Diyala province south of Mosul and northeast of Baghdad.
Insurgents clashed with U.S.-allied Sunni Arab fighters and killed one of them near the village of Waib, south of the provincial capital of Baqouba.
But nearly 200 suspected militants have been captured since the operation began on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari said.
AP Television News footage on Thursday showed Iraqi troops transferring a handful of detainees in the back of a truck in Diyala. One of the soldiers was seen feeding a slice of orange to a blindfolded captive as others gave them water.
Many Iraqis also were hopeful the low levels of violence could be sustained.
"I am optimistic that the worst has passed and we will not see many bodies in the city anymore. The Iraqi people are no longer interested in continuing the cycle of violence," said Qais Rahim, a 30-year-old Shiite merchant.
But others echoed fears that the relative calm merely reflected a decision by militants to lay low and wait for a chance to regroup.
"The number of bodies has declined, but I think this is a temporary calm because there are sleeper cells ready to resume their killings anytime," said Mustafa Hussein, a 33-year-old engineer from the mainly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah. "Also, there are militiamen who have fled the country and might return as soon as possible."
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Don''t worry about Obama441 the Jihadist. He''s one of them so-called "men".
Qais Rahim, Baghdad merchant
I guess not, everybody is already dead!
Posted by guyfrompa49 at 07:59 AM : Aug 01, 2008
July Sees Lowest U.S. Death Toll In Iraq
10 Troop Deaths Confirmed; Death Tolls For Iraqis Also Keep Falling Amid Security Gains
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But it should be ZERO...
Just start making s*it up like you always do.
Like in WMDs...
Now here is a "Brainy GOPer"...
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Posted by IOWEIGN
EXACTLY, that is why I ask the question - why Afghanistan?
Good job, CIC!!!!
Posted by WhyAfghan at 08:14 AM : Aug 01, 2008
The article was about Iraq but
Where did al-Quaeda and bin Laden have their training camps? Afghanistan
Where was bin Laden ? Afghanistan
We attacked Afghanistan, and are still conducting combat operations there because:
Afghanistan was almost entirely controlled by islamic extremists known as the Taliban. The Taliban had conducted a campaign of fear and murder against large portions of the Afghani people in their quest for political dominance. The Taliban also harbored and supported Al Qaeda (financially and politically). Al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001; which killed more people than the infamous Pearl Harbor attack. So, we attacked Al-Qaeda at their base of operations in Afghanistan. We also attacked the Taliban to send a message that harboring and aiding terrorist organizations would not be tolerated.
Even though "some of them" want you to lose the war in Iraq, most of "us" are on the "right" side of the issue.
We''ll try our best to keep Barack Hussein Osama Obama out of the White House.
The onion is being peeled and his number are going down like Monica on Billy Bob.
The rock star''s days are numbered and McCain wil likely be our next President of The United States!
Keep the faith!!
McCain 2008
I think you have mistaken a Presidential election with American Idol. I''m sure with your wit and gift of gab, you could certainly be in contention.
However, as a presidential candidate, we''re really looking for someone with values, morals and a sense of purpose when it comes to the important issues of the day.
Thank you for participating in this historic campaign but race and personality will never be the only criteria to win.
Get a little more experience, pay attention to the issues and may you and the Clintons can run again in a few years.
God Bless.
Vote John McCain in November!
Our Lives Depend On It!!
Thank God and thank you Senator Obama for basing your campaign solely on race and celebrity!
The rock star image is wearing thin. Go back to Washington and get some experience.
By the way, try and make some friends that aren''t so anti-American. Most people frown on that sort of thing.
You''ve seen your numbers, right? Even the mainstream Obama supporting media can''t lie about this one...
Oh, that''s right...if McCain is elected, they''ll be there for 100 years.
Never mind that the death toll for our troops in Afghanistan is the HIGHEST its been since the invasion of that country...
Get over yesterday''s sound bites and get educated on the candidate I''m going to assume you''re voting for because you hear about all the "change".
Be smart. Look at the whole picture. Bashing George Bush will not solve anything. Welcome to today.
Throw out the leisure suit and platform shoes and join the rest of us in congratulating the troops rather than focussing on negative campaigning.
Just another sound bite taken out of context by the mainstream media.
Get educated on the issues.
Welcome to today...
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Posted by obama441 at 09:29 AM : Aug 01, 2008
What''s your point. We have won a great battle in the war on terrorism.
Never bet against the U.S. military! (Like Reid and Pelosi)
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Posted by obama441 at 09:25 AM : Aug 01, 2008
Naw, he can do it from here.
Or is this all bad news for the democrats because they won''t be able to continue exploiting the war and using America''s suffering for their own selfish political gain anymore ?
Posted by nokoolaid at 09:43 AM
You just wish it will never end so you can continually Bush-bash and exploit the war to get elected, but can''t you read? it is not "never ending"
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Posted by nokoolaid at 09:50 AM
Ok, so it proves that you want Soldiers to continue to die and you are not happy that less are being killed, and it bad news for you American-haters, because you''re ability to USE america is coming to an end, STOP USING AMERICA like a cheap wh-ore for your own selfish poltical gain.
Because you won''t face the fact that America did remove Saddam''s regime, thats history.....You continue to make believe it didn''t happen.....face it lib.....the war will be winding down to a win in the near future and that just kills you
How holier-than-thou that you pretend to have the families in mind, when you have been taking part in undermining the war effort since day 1, like a "Fifth Column"
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Posted by nokoolaid at 09:50 AM
Ok, so it proves that you want Soldiers to continue to die and you are not happy that less are being killed, and it bad news for you American-haters, because you''''re ability to USE america is coming to an end, STOP USING AMERICA like a cheap wh-ore for your own selfish poltical gain.
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Posted by Minuteman-5 at 09:52 AM : Aug 01, 2008
Of course he isn''t happy that American lives are being lost. Are you happy that Americans are dying at all in an unecessary war?
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Posted by mccarthy51 at 10:04 AM
Of course I don''t wish any loss of life, but I can feel some relief when signs are coming in that the war will be ending in the near future, and the Iraqi security force is getting stronger and normalcy is returning to Iraq....that everyone should be somewhat happy about. You don''t? if you don''t then you are making matters worse, and wish to continue to undermine the war, so you can continue to say "bush-bad", republicans-bad....with no honor for our country as a whole
I am just glad we are finally seeing progress some progress in Iraq, and hopefully we can get those troops home soon.
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Posted by mccarthy51 at 10:09 AM
Thank you, thats all I wanted to hear, that a democrat was happy that lives lost were at the lowest level since the invasion, which means troops will NOT be coming home but going to Afghanistan for Obama''s war-mongering, didn''t you hear? Coming home? he has no desire to bring them home, that was all BS anti-war talk, while he was courting the liberals in the primary, now Obama is all war-mongerish....he''s just Osame, war as before
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Posted by Minuteman-5 at 10:08 AM : Aug 01, 2008
See, I don''t agree with Bush. I don''t agree with this war, and I didn''t like being lied to in order to get us in there. I am happy that this war is finally drawing to an end, and we can finally start bringing those troops home. I don''t feel me disagreeing with the war in the first place is me "undermining the troops". I respect them and what risks they are taking, I just feel as if they should not have been there in the first place. But since that is in the past, all I can really do is hope and pray that this war ends soon, Iraq is secure, and we can bring our troops home.
Well, I must say that I salute you as a good America and a friendly democrat, who despite what actions this country took (agree or disagree), you have the soldiers best interest in mind.
I understand you''re not going to vote for McCain, but do you feel a little cheated or ripped off, with Obama acting so anti-war during the primary when he was courting the liberal anti-war base, and then morphs into this desire to send troops to Afghanistan to fight in mountainous terrain against non-al qaeda taliban ? Isn''t it a little uneasy to see him change so quickly, because of his duplicity and desire to get elected ? I was just interested in your perspective as a Obama follower
Wake up kid, Iraq and Saddam Hussein surrendered to us in the 1st Gulf-War, and made certain surrender agreements, which they did not abide by, and were subsequently RE-invaded a second time......this Sovereign nation Bull is nonsense.
maybe you can get the heck out of here, and stop promoting your dating sites
Somehow I believe that it would be much the same in that much as committed Repubs express thier support for the war in Iraq, committed Dems would have expressed thier support the Vietnam War. It''s a party pride thing!
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Posted by nokoolaid
Then you agree that we should Bring the Troops Home and stay out of Afghanistan?
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