August,1st month without U.S killed in Iraq?
From http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20100267-503543.html?tag=strip
The U.S. military has marked an inspiring landmark after almost a decade at war in Iraq; August was the first month since the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in which no American service member died in the country.
While symbolic, a military spokesman who confirmed the tranquil August to CBSNews.com pointed out that two previous months – December 2009 and 0ctober 2010 – saw no American troops killed in action, but non-combat deaths were recorded. Non-combat deaths can be the result of anything from vehicle accidents to illness.
The New York Times reports that August owes its relatively peaceful nature in part to Iraq’s military leaders heeding pressure from Washington to more aggressively target Shiite militia’s backed by Iran.
"I think this shows how far the Iraqi security forces have come," Col. Douglas Crissman, who commands U.S. troops in southern Iraq, told the Times.
The lack of a U.S. death toll from Iraq in August comes after a particularly bloody July – when 14 U.S. troops were killed in the country.
At left: Inside the U.S. combat mission in Iraq
Thursday’s news will come as welcome support for the Obama administration at it continues withdrawing troops from Iraq, but Iraqis themselves may take less heart.
"Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work," Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr. concluded in a report issued to Congress just one month ago.
"It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago," said Bowen, citing the resurgent Shiite militias and the deaths of 15 U.S. soldiers in June, the bloodiest month the U.S. military had experienced in Iraq in two years.
Some 46,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, and President Obama declared the combat mission there officially over one year ago, but that announcement was slightly misleading.
"U.S. aircraft still conduct strikes against targets that threaten American forces, U.S. Special Operations forces still conduct night raids with Iraqi commandos, and although the U.S. Army brigades in Iraq are officially called ‘advise and assist’ brigades, they are still fully prepared for combat," noted CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.
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The U.S. military in Baghdad did not provide any reasoning for the zero U.S. death toll in August when asked by CBSNews.com.
August was also Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, during which most Muslims fast during the daylight hours.
CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark reported this week from Kabul that U.S. forces in that country also experienced a less violent August, relative to previous months.
A devastatingly successful Taliban attack on a single U.S. Chinook helicopter, which alone killed 30 American troops, greatly skewed the death toll in Afghanistan for August, but Clark says Ramadan was a contributing factor for keeping the ground combat otherwise slower in August.
What do you think about this?
I mean, by President’s Obama point of view we are NOT in Iraq anymore.
@Dosia
30 US Troops,25 SEALs and 7 afghan soldiers.
But i’m talking about Iraq.
BUT!!!!! 66 troops have been killed this month alone, making it the deadliest month ever. How is that good?!
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