July Sees Lowest U.S. Death Toll In Iraq

10 Troop Deaths Confirmed; Death Tolls For Iraqis Also Keep Falling Amid Security Gains

(AP)  The monthly U.S. toll in Iraq fell to its lowest point since the war began, with at least 10 American deaths as July drew to a close Thursday after the departure of the last surge brigade.

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."

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.

July 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."

[dixxson-2009]

A dude here critiquing the Liberal education, One of The Flat Earth People!

[babooph]

The idiot only sent 10 to their death last month-the propaganda system implies this should make me happy.

[rickstas]

Hey terrorislamv:

The only people who are going to read that garbage are asssholes like you!!!

[oneamerican_]

You have lost your War on America, liberals.

Time for your unconditional surrender.

[babooph]

"Sees" low death rate-because if we "heard" it on the "news"-only the most brainwashed would believe it.

[demwatcher]

"Liberals are usually more educated than the dills on the right, they''''re intimidated by it, yes, as their decisions are never taken from good informed knowledge, but blind sheep stinking up the place. thank god for liberals and education! don''''t worry, repub rats, you''''ll figure it out someday. in the meantime, what explanation do you have for the hell bush has put us in for 8 years? support that too? blind support -- whatever the wasp says, we follow!

Posted by smart4peace at 09:20 PM : Aug 01, 2008"

Liberals usually MORE educated that Conservatives? Not likely. An education means that you LEARNED something, not being brainwashed by Liberal Academia.

The only thing Liberals learn is empty-minded, blind loyalty to the cause. They are fanatics of the worse kind. That is what people are concerned about. You will stop at nothing to follow the dictates of your leaders. You will hold up your Chosen One regardless of his failings, inexperience, or dropping poll numbers.

An explanation for eight years of President Bush? AMERICA voted him into office in spite of EVERYTHING you threw at him. He has beaten the Liberal cause consistently and it GALLS YOU to no end to KNOW that AMERICA does not follow you. How puny you must feel being defeated TIME AND AGAIN by the man you label as the dumbest man in America!

It seems that the "Liberal" education is fatally flawed if you could not oust President Bush in 2004, or find the means to impeach him since.

[starleo146]

Barack goes to Iraq and tell Maliki we will have a draw down, and in 16 months most of our troops will be gone, we will leave a contingency force just to finalize, and stabilize, and Maliki agrees, good, 16 months sound good. Now Bush is saying things look quieter and he will have more troops coming home, he probably is sending them to Afghanistan two brigades is it not what Barack asked for.

[excoachken]

This statement from an administration that said, "We don''t do body counts." when asked last fall, about the 4000 dead in this worthless invasion.

[ubrew12]

RosieOD4Prez:
Think about your posts. You want us to praise GW because Iraq has stopped being a mess? I would, if I were Iraqi! Most libs opposed the surge not because spending massive amounts of money and troops to contain violence there wouldn''t work for Iraq, but because it wouldn''t work for America. Most libs realize that Iraq''s status has no bearing for us here in America. It means nothing to us, it never did. It was no threat, no ''line in the sand'', no outpost of Al-Qaida, no nothing. It was a waste of money and American lives, in an ego-driven attempt to erase the memory of Vietnam.

If there were a way I could make you and your fellow GOP''ers PAY the estimated $2 trillion cost of this worthless debacle, I would. Maybe I can, if Obama wins. I''m not kidding: you revealed yourself as profounding unAmerican with your support and constant encouragement of this mistake, and now I would like you and yours to FEEL the profound weight of that mistake on your shoulders.

Instead, in classic neocon fashion, you''ll find a way to shift the payment for that mistake onto the shoulders of others. Its a pattern written into the neocon soul.

[rosieod4prez]

Remeber all the liberals on this site that swore the Surge would never work!!!!


Ah - I''d like to hear what happened from your perspective.

Oh - wait a minute - let me guess first....




We got lucky. The other side decided to take their ball and go home.



Fact is, the surge worked because Petraus had our men living right in the city of Baghdad, amongst the populace, protecting them.

The populace decided we were indeed there to get rid of the real threat, and NOT there to harm them, so they started giving us information on who the insurgents were.


But, you libs would rather lose a war than lose an election, so you won''t face up to facts.


Really funny. 6 moths ago this would have been a HOTBED of comments - but now - just crickets from the libs.

bye bye Obama!