Eleven US soldiers were killed in Iraq in July, the lowest monthly toll since the 2003 invasion, according Pentagon figures, highlighting what US commanders say is a marked drop in overall violence.
The number compares with the deadliest month of November 2004 when 137 American troops were slain, an independent toll by icasualties.org showed. The previous low was in May this year when 19 soldiers were killed.
Since the US-led invasion of March 2003 that toppled now executed dictator Saddam Hussein, a total of 4,125 US troops have been killed in Iraq, according to independent website icasualties.org.
The downward trend began in the middle of last year after a US troop "surge", although there were two spikes in bloodshed in March and April when fierce fighting erupted between Shiite militiamen and US-led forces.
Icasualties.org said the number of Iraqi civilian dead fell to 302 in July, the lowest since April 2005, from 373 in June while the toll among Iraqi security forces rose in July to 91 from 77.
The commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said in an interview published two days ago that overall violence was falling to almost "normal" levels.
But he warned that the trend could be reversed by "sensational attacks" such as two bombings on Monday that rocked Baghdad and the northern oil hub of Kirkuk in which about 56 Iraqis were killed and more than 200 wounded.
"If you could reduce these sensational attacks further, I think you are almost approaching a level of normal or latent violence," Petraeus told USA Today.
"The fact that the levels of violence have come down so significantly and stayed down now for some two-and-a-half months... indicates there is a degree of durability."
Wait, wasn't the war in Iraq "lost" not only a few months ago according to several prominent Democrats? Weren't we in a "quagmire" that we couldn't get out of??
Now, don't get me wrong, 11 soldiers dead is 11 too many. 4,100 is too many. But, let's look at it another way. We're engaged in an active war against an enemy that hides amongst the skirts of women, the toys of children, and the sanctity of mosques. Last war we had in 1991, there were 275 dead in a war that lasted about a month.
It's a sad fact that soldiers that go to war can and do not come alive sometimes.
But, for those that wanted to throw in the towel, give into an enemy that was terrorizing a nation, and would set up a base of operations, I say this: Told you so, you cocksuckers.
Perhaps next time you wouldn't be so willing to let good men and women die in vain and not accomplish the goals that they worked and died for.
Travis
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