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Subject: U.S. troop losses plunge in Iraq
TXAggie93    10/30/2007 9:49:19 PM
Were is this in MSM? U.S. troop losses plunge in Iraq Combat fatalities could be as low as 23 for October, a level not seen since 2006. Iraqi losses also fall. By Gordon Lubold | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Washington US troop losses in Iraq have plummeted in the past few months to levels not seen since early 2006 – an encouraging sign, say analysts and defense officials, that the US strategy is working, at least for now. American defense officials cite recent weapons finds, disruption of bombmaking cells, and the 2007 "surge" of US forces as contributing to a dramatic improvement in security in many parts of Iraq, cutting casualties among both Iraqi civilians and US troops. It is too soon to know if the trend will last or whether the reduction of American forces in coming months, as planned, will undermine what remains a fragile security on the ground. Nor does it signal that victory is imminent. Instead, the security gains present a "window of opportunity" that will stay open only if economic opportunity, government coherence, and stronger Iraqi security forces materialize in Iraq, says a senior defense official. "If those things don't occur, then you'll begin to see things backslide on the military side," says the official, who asked not to be named in order to speak more freely. It's far from clear if the pieces that US officials see as needing to come together in Iraq will do so. Much of the Iraqi government is still not functional, and US commanders marvel at its inability to spend its budget – seen as key to establishing permanent security by stimulating economic activity and restoring basic services to Iraqis. 120 deaths in May; 23 in October The Pentagon reported 23 service members killed in combat this month as of Tuesday, noting that insurgent and other attacks have plunged in violence-prone places like Baghdad. As recently as May, as the Pentagon completed its "surge" of about 30,000 additional US forces and began military operations in more dangerous areas of Iraq, US combat deaths were five times as high, with 120 killed. This month, by contrast, the casualty rate is on par with that of March 2006, when 27 service members were killed. Since the beginning of the war, only a few months have seen fewer fatalities than this month, including February 2004, arguably the predawn of the insurgency in Iraq, when 12 US service members were killed. Still, the number of US forces killed so far this year is a few dozen more than the total number killed in action during all of 2006. Yet the recent trend is a positive sign, officials and analysts say. What makes it significant is that US forces in Iraq are still conducting operations, not "hunkering down" in the relative security of the many sprawling US bases. "There is no other way to interpret it but as extremely good news," says Michael O'Hanlon, a senior analyst at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington. Conditions remain dangerous, of course. A suicide bomber on Monday killed nearly 30 people at the morning roll call of a police unit in Baquba, north of Baghdad. The same day, a brigadier general assigned to the US Army Corps of Engineers became the most senior American officer to be seriously injured by a roadside bomb. He is expected to make a full recovery. In the meantime, extremist elements within the Iraqi security forces pose an ongoing concern. But it's hard to argue with fewer US casualties, says Mr. O'Hanlon, who is both hawkish and critical of the war. He took some flak over the summer for co-writing an op-ed that critics said was too rosy about the troop surge in Iraq, though much of the article's analysis has so far been borne out. "There are a million things still wrong in Iraq, but it is extremely good news in what remains a very difficult war," he says. In Iraq, there's never a simple answer to any question, and the explanation for why security is improving is no different. The so-called Anbar Awakening, in which Sunni sheikhs in Anbar Province came together to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq, and an apparent retreat of the Shiite militia Jash al-Mahdi have lessened the number of bombings and other violence, US military commanders in Iraq say. In addition, the proliferation of what is known as "concerned citizens" – average Iraqis typically paid by the US to maintain security in their neighborhoods – has changed the security situation on the ground in places like Babil and Diyala Provinces, where both US and Iraqi officials say people have tired of the violence. But the senior military official says recent discoveries of major weapons caches – five in the past week – and the disruption of bombmaking cells by going after their leaders have also had an impact. "We've really focused on attacking the leadership," the senior defense official says. "We're really focusing on trying to take down that enemy line of operation." But the situation there is st
 
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swhitebull    So Do Civilian Deaths   11/1/2007 2:41:36 PM
Deaths Fall To New Lows In Iraq

As the casualty rates in Iraq for American and Iraqi soldiers continue to decline, the focus shifts to civilian casualties. In order to stabilize the country, the security forces have to drive attacks and deaths down to the point where native security forces can take control and allow the US to concentrate on rebuilding efforts. In October, the Coalition showed continued progress towards that goal, with civilian casualties dropping to a level not seen since 2005:

Iraq's civilian body count in October was less than half that at its height in January, reflecting both the tactical successes of this year's U.S. troop buildup and the lasting impact of waves of sectarian death squad killings, car bombings and neighborhood purges. ...

American commanders credit the buildup, which reached full strength in June, with slowing sectarian bloodshed.

They say the decision to send 28,500 more troops to Iraq has made a difference by allowing them to send soldiers to live on the fault lines between Sunni Arab and Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, and to conduct sweeping offensives in provinces east and south of the capital against strongholds of Shiite Muslim militias and Sunni militants linked to foreign insurgents.

 

Part of the progress has come from shifts in population that have created more homogeneous neighborhoods. Instead of mixing the various populations, shared areas such as Baghdad have instead transformed into self-segregated territories. It follows from a year-long sectarian battle that radicalized the various groups until the fighting finally began its decline after the surge.

Lt. General Ray Odierno held a briefing earlier today explaining the statistics. As the slide below shows, all types of attacks have declined. and the numbers now resemble what the situation looked like in the month before the Golden Mosque bombing in February 2005. Found and cleared bombs declined slightly, but notice the big drop in detonated IEDs from the summer. Mortar and rockets attacks have dropped significantly, as have small-arms and grenade attacks.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/pubfiles/att4b1ad.php','popup','width=623,height=423,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" href="http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/pubfiles/att4b1ad.php">http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/pubfiles/att4b1ad-thumb.gif" width=500>

The peak of the violence came this year as the surge troops arrived. Ever since the full implementation of General David Petraeus' counterinsurgency strategies, the violence has dropped and the terrorists have lost ground. Combined with the sharp decline in civilian violence, the data clearly shows progress in stabilizing Iraq and defanging the terrorists.

There remains plenty of work to do. None of it will be easy or quick. However, we can see that the change in command has taken us in the right direction -- and it's a direction we should continue to pursue.

 
 
swhitebull
 
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SGTObvious       11/2/2007 12:09:20 PM
Where is the MSM?
 
Desperately trying to figure out how to reverse this trend.  "Their" side is taking a beating, and they know it.
 
SGTObvious
 
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Bob       11/3/2007 8:38:56 PM

Where is the MSM?

 

Desperately trying to figure out how to reverse this trend.  "Their" side is taking a beating, and they know it.

 

SGTObvious


Now is the perfect time to TKO the MSM with a clever sting operation, starting a fake weblog or Myspace page posing as a soldier or marine detailing phoney atrocities. Once they pick up on it without doing any fact checking and parade it out on all their front pages and top stories, it'll be the nail in their coffin.
 
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WarNerd       11/6/2007 5:42:25 AM
Yesterday's paper was had on the front page that because of the surge this years casualties were going to be higher than last years, AND ITS ALL BUSH's FAULT.
 
So that's how they are going to spin their way around the lack of new casualties.
 
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rb_martin       11/8/2007 4:48:56 PM

Yesterday's paper was had on the front page that because of the surge this years casualties were going to be higher than last years, AND ITS ALL BUSH's FAULT.

 

So that's how they are going to spin their way around the lack of new casualties.


I caught the same thing without the political spin. Casualties to date are set at 893 for 2007 which is an increase over last year if I remember correctly. Taking into account that the US raised the commitment of troops, and an increase in operations, you would logically expect the casualties to also increase somewhat as well. Given that most of the losses are due to IEDs, and the new counter to that threat is being slowly resolved, I would expect next years figures to be a little more favorable.

rb
 
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