US on Course for Record Troop Deaths in Iraq
Fresh out of negative news due to the record low numbers of troops killed in October and the rapidly declining death tolls since the June as the troop surge was instituted, the media is trying to find something negative to report about Iraq and casualties:
So we want to use cumulative numbers to describe the year. And this year, we have had roughly one third as many deaths FOR THE YEAR than were suffered in a single month of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.
We surge, troop deaths increase for three months. Al Qaeda throws everything they can at us to fight back. We continue to press them and dismantle their leadership. Their operational capability is destroyed and violence against both US Troops and civilians drops to almost record lows as Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites begin taking up arms in their own communities to expel the foreign fighters.
But that doesn’t fit into the AP’s agenda, so it won’t get reported that way. Just that we are on pace for a record number of troop deaths.
Good job AP. Way to google “Iraq War Casualties” and go to iCasualty.org to add up the body count for 2007.
UPDATE: The article was not buried on Page 14, but was on the Front Page of the Print Edition of the Republic. Disgusting.
UPDATE: Click here to read my Letter to the Editor in response to the Article.
BAGHDAD - With just under two months left in the year, 2007 is on course to be the deadliest year ever for American forces in Iraq, despite a recent sharp drop in U.S. deaths.
At least 847 American military personnel have died in Iraq so far this year, the second-highest since the war began in March 2003, according to Associated Press figures.
In 2004, the bloodiest year of the war for the U.S. so far, 850 American troops died. Most were killed in large, conventional battles.
But the American military in Iraq has increased its exposure this year, reaching 165,000 troops, the highest levels yet. Moreover, the military’s decision to send soldiers out of large bases and into Iraqi communities means more troops have seen more contact with enemy forces than ever before, said Maj. Winfield Danielson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.
“It’s due to the troop surge, which allowed us to go into areas that were previously safe havens for insurgents,” Danielson said. “Having more soldiers, and having them out in the communities, certainly contributes to our casualties.”
So we want to use cumulative numbers to describe the year. And this year, we have had roughly one third as many deaths FOR THE YEAR than were suffered in a single month of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.
We surge, troop deaths increase for three months. Al Qaeda throws everything they can at us to fight back. We continue to press them and dismantle their leadership. Their operational capability is destroyed and violence against both US Troops and civilians drops to almost record lows as Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites begin taking up arms in their own communities to expel the foreign fighters.
But that doesn’t fit into the AP’s agenda, so it won’t get reported that way. Just that we are on pace for a record number of troop deaths.
Good job AP. Way to google “Iraq War Casualties” and go to iCasualty.org to add up the body count for 2007.
UPDATE: The article was not buried on Page 14, but was on the Front Page of the Print Edition of the Republic. Disgusting.
UPDATE: Click here to read my Letter to the Editor in response to the Article.
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