News from Iraq just gets better

[jameznyhc]

Funny The democrats that GUARANTEED us failure, civil war and defeat are just going to improve Bush's standing in history.. thats when the partisian bickering evaporates and just the facts are left.. He won Iraq before leaving office


S monthly toll in Iraq at lowest since invasion

Jul 31 04:03 PM US/Eastern
2 Comments




View larger image

Eleven US soldiers were killed in Iraq in July, the lowest monthly toll since the 2003 invasion, according to Pentagon figures, highlighting what US commanders say is a marked drop in violence.
The number compares with the deadliest month of November 2004 when 137 American troops were slain, a toll by independent website 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 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 from 373 in June to 302 in July, the lowest since April 2005. The toll among Iraqi security forces rose in July to 91 from 77 the previous month.


But Iraq's health and defence ministries said on Thursday their figures showed militants and insurgents had killed 387 civilians, 45 police officers and 33 soldiers in July.

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 were 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."


Citing Petraeus's comments, US President George W. Bush hailed the reports of reduced violence in Iraq as a sign of the "durability" of progress there, but cautioned that the gains are still "reversible."

Icasualties.org estimates that a total of 42,922 civilians have died since it began tallying figures in March 2005, but warns that its count cannot be verified and the actual toll is much higher.

The United States and Iraq are still trying to hammer out an agreement governing US troop levels in the country beyond 2008 when the UN mandate covering the presence of foreign soldiers expires.

In principle, Thursday was the deadline set in November by Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to sign a Status of Forces Agreement.

Maliki this month shook the White House by saying he favoured setting a date for the withdrawal of American combat troops in Iraq, where the US force currently totals about 142,500.

The White House had said earlier this month it did not think Baghdad and Washington would meet the July 31 deadline for the pact.


A US embassy official on Thursday confirmed to AFP that the negotiations were continuing, describing them as "constructive."

Bush said the "agreement will serve as the foundation for America's presence in Iraq."

Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani said on Monday that he believed they were "moving in the right direction" towards concluding an agreement, despite some opposition in Iraq.

Radical anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said in a statement on Thursday that he objected to a deal with the "occupier," and urged Iraqis to stand up against the pact.

Asked whether Iraqi troops could fill the void created by a US withdrawal, Bolani said the issue was being evaluated by his ministry against factors such as experience and training of Iraqi forces.

Ten of Iraq's 18 provinces have so far been handed back to Iraqi control.

"After all that perhaps we can determine, look into the issue of decreasing the forces or decreasing the amount of personnel there," Bolani said, adding that Iraqi forces had demonstrated their ability to contain the "threat of terrorism."


Copyright AFP 2008

[jameznyhc]

By JENNIFER LOVEN

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush hailed a new "degree of durability" in security gains in Iraq Thursday, saying it should permit him to announce further U.S. troop reductions later this year.

With the war in its sixth year and violence substantially decreased in recent weeks, Bush gave a brief and hastily arranged update on the war that focused on several fronts of progress.

He said that violence is at its lowest ebb since the spring of 2004, that forces are in their third consecutive month with lower violence levels holding steady, and that Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable of both fighting and securing the country.

"The progress is still reversible," Bush acknowledged. But he added, "There now appears to be a degree of durability in gains."



Looking ahead to the next recommendation on troop levels from U.S. generals in Iraq, Bush suggested its reasonable to expect "further reductions in our combat forces, as conditions permit."

Bush's four minutes of remarks showed him eager to talk progress. But he attached qualifications at every step, wary of repeating the mistake of his so-called "Mission Accomplished" speech over five years ago, in May 2003.

"We remain a nation at war," he said. "The terrorists remain dangerous and they are determined to strike our country and our allies again."

His appearance was timed to Friday's start of reduced tour lengths for U.S. troops. Starting Aug. 1, Army units heading to Iraq will serve 12-month tours rather than the 15 months that soldiers are currently deployed. That's a milestone that Bush wanted to spotlight even though it won't apply to troops now serving.

Bush said this reduction "will relieve the burden on our forces and it will make life easier for our wonderful military families."



The statement also coincided with a growing acceptance that the mission in Iraq is starting to shift, from mainly combat to mainly training Iraqi forces, securing the Iraqi border with Iran, rebuilding the economy and battling foreign terrorists.

Still, the conflict remains a key issue in the presidential campaign. Republican nominee in waiting Sen. John McCain has repeatedly accused presumed Democratic standardbearer Barack Obama of planning a reckless withdrawal. Obama has countered that the United States never should have gone to war there in the first place.

Increasing numbers of people in this country believe the U.S. troop increase in Iraq has helped improve the situation there. According to a USA Today-Gallup Poll conducted last weekend, 48 percent say the buildup has made things better. That's up from 40 percent who said so in February and 22 percent in July 2007.

On the other hand, 56 percent say the U.S. erred in invading Iraq in the first place. That figure is down slightly from the spring, but has changed little over the past two years.

About 145,000 troops remain on the ground in Iraq, now that all the combat brigades sent last year as part of the so-called surge have returned home as of this month. But that's still higher than the roughly 130,000-135,000 who were there before the troop increase.


Offering a concrete example of the gains made, Bush noted that Iraqi forces are taking the lead in a new offensive this week in the Diyala province northeast of the capital of Baghdad, considered one of the last major al-Qaida strongholds in the region.

About 50,000 U.S.-backed Iraqi military and police forces have launched a major operation against al-Qaida insurgents there.

"This operation is Iraqi-led; our forces are playing a supporting role," Bush said. "In the months ahead, the Iraqis will continue taking the lead in more military operations across the country."

Bush somewhat improbably claimed progress on negotiations for a long-term agreement with Iraq governing the U.S. troop presence there, including everything from rules of engagement to drivers' licenses for the military. The White House's original goal was to have it completed by Thursday - the end of July. The United Nations mandate that now allows the U.S. to be in Iraq expires Dec. 31.

But the difficult talks have spawned many disputes, including over setting timelines for troop withdrawals, and the best hope now seems to be only a stopgap agreement by the end of the year. With only a few months left of the Bush administration, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has taken a toughened stance on its own demands.

---



http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080731/D92902OG0.html

[Defekted]

11 too many. whats the total again? oh thats right, who cares because its far less than car accidents in New york under full moons over the past two decades.... and nothing like the losses of past wars in the 1800's.

Tell that to every friend and relative, that died for a war of choice. That died for nothing. Now we secured a country that was in hell and to a country that is in purgatory. With a very high likelihood that i can be back to previous levels with the next security hiccup, next power grab, next election, next hard ass religious rightwinger that wants to impose their stronger base over the others.....

yeaaaaa like none of that can happen or is likely to happen.....

yeaaaaa like we arent just putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound that we caused

you or anyone else can try to find comfort focusing on tactical victories in a lost war, but Id rather focus on our future leadership and try to ensure that we dont duplicate mistakes.