Army honor guard carries the casket of U.S. Army Pfc. Kenneth J. Iwasinski, 22, during funeral services at Belchertown High School in Massachusetts., Saturday, October 27, 2007. He was killed in Iraq by an improvised explosive device. His father and stepmother, Dominick and Tawnia Iwasinski are at right. (AP Photo/The Repubican, Christopher Evans.)
by Frank James
The report today that five more U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq Monday makes 2007 the deadliest year for U.S. troops, according to the Associated Press which has been keeping count.
Paradoxically, the same surge of U.S. forces which contributed to the higher numbers of U.S. troop deaths this year, since more soldiers were out in Iraqi neighborhoods instead of in the relative safety of forward operating bases, also accounts for a declining trend in troop deaths in the second half of the year as those same neighborhoods became more secure.
Unfortunately, the year isn’t over.
Today’s bad news from Iraq can expected to reinvigorate calls from critics of the war, including some of the Democratic presidential candidates, to start bringing home significant numbers of U.S. troops.
Here’s the top of the AP story.
By LAUREN FRAYER, Associated Press Writer
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BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military on Tuesday announced the deaths of five more soldiers, making 2007 the deadliest year for U.S. troops despite a recent downturn, according to an Associated Press count.
At least 852 American military personnel have died in Iraq so far this year — the highest annual toll since the war began in March 2003, according to AP figures.
The grim milestone passed despite a sharp drop in U.S. and Iraqi deaths here in recent months, after a 30,000-strong U.S. force buildup. There were 39 deaths in October, compared to 65 in September and 84 in August.