Iraq: US Deaths in September Fall to Lowest Level in a Year....

Typing stories like this must be physically painful for Reuters...

BAGHDAD, Sept 28 (Reuters) - U.S. military deaths in Iraq look set to fall this month to their lowest level in a year, a reduction which army officers say shows their stepped-up security drive around Baghdad is yielding results.

Fifty-nine U.S. soldiers have been killed so far this month, according to the Web site icasualties.org which tracks military deaths in Iraq, making it the least deadly month for U.S. troops since July last year.

The reduction will be welcome news to President George W. Bush, who faces domestic pressure to start bringing troops home from an unpopular war in which 3,800 U.S. soldiers have died. (when did this turn into an op-ed? -ed.)

Bush has said his policy of a military "surge" in Iraq is bearing fruit and curbing some of the violence which has raged since he ordered a March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

September's figure is on track to be around half of the death toll for May, when extra U.S. forces started deploying in greater strength into dangerous areas, in what was seen as a last ditch attempt to reduce Iraq's sectarian fighting.

W Zip

Comments

[JDAM]

I bet tears were hitting the keyboard