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US Troop Fatalities Down in Iraq

Falling trend signals 'window of opportunity'

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 31, 2007 4:15 PM CDT
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(Newser) – US troop losses in Iraq dropped in the past month, matching the levels of March 2006 and giving a tentative credit to the current US strategy, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Thirty-six deaths have been reported in October, a lull ascribed to weapons-cache finds, the disruption of bombmaking cells, and the troop "surge" completed in May.

The organization of neighborhood-watch groups, the Anbar Awakening and Muqtada al-Sadr's pacification of his Mehdi army are also credited with the drop in violence. The trend signals a "window of opportunity" but not necessarily imminent victory: More troops have died in 2007 than in 2006. And gains are merely a prerequisite for the government coherence and economic opportunity necessary for sustainable peace.

A U.S. Army soldier stands guard as a Blackhawk helicopter lands in Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)
A U.S. Army soldier stands guard as a Blackhawk helicopter lands in Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)   (Associated Press)
A U.S soldier shakes hands wit an Iraqi girl as residents wait humanitarian aid to be distributed by U.S and Iraqi army, for the poor people in Hillah, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007. (AP Photo/ Ahmed Alhussainey)
A U.S soldier shakes hands wit an Iraqi girl as residents wait humanitarian aid to be distributed by U.S and Iraqi army, for the poor people in Hillah, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad,...   (Associated Press)
A U.S soldier from Bravo 6-9 Cav. Troop sights through the scope of his weapon during operation Saberhammer 3 on the outskirts of Muqdadiyah, Iraq, north of Baghdad in this Sept. 17, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)
A U.S soldier from Bravo 6-9 Cav. Troop sights through the scope of his weapon during operation Saberhammer 3 on the outskirts of Muqdadiyah, Iraq, north of Baghdad in this Sept. 17, 2007 file photo....   (Associated Press)
A U.S. soldier patrols during a joint operation with Iraqi national police in the Khadra neighborhood of western Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
A U.S. soldier patrols during a joint operation with Iraqi national police in the Khadra neighborhood of western Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)   (Associated Press)
A U.S. soldier stands guard with an Iraqi national policeman, in background, during a joint operation in the Khadra neighborhood of western Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
A U.S. soldier stands guard with an Iraqi national policeman, in background, during a joint operation in the Khadra neighborhood of western Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)   (Associated Press)
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