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| Iraq |
| U.S. March Toll Nearly Twice Iraq Forces |
| 2007-04-01 |
| EFL... BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military death toll in March, the first full month of the security crackdown, was nearly twice that of the Iraqi army, which American and Iraqi officials say is taking the leading role in the latest attempt to curb violence in the capital, surrounding cities and Anbar province, according to figures compiled on Saturday. You know what? I'm beginning to think it doesn't matter whether the "surge" succeeds or not: even if it does, the MSM will spin it as a failure. They WILL find an angle. The Associated Press count of U.S. military deaths for the month was 81, including a soldier who died from non-combat causes Saturday. Figures compiled from officials in the Iraqi ministries of Defense, Health and Interior showed the Iraqi military toll was 44. The Iraqi figures showed that 165 Iraqi police were killed in March. Many of the police serve in paramilitary units. According to the AP count 3,246 U.S. service members have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Of course what they never mention is that our Iraq casualties the last four years is down in the mud compared to past wars, somewhere between the number of people who've died in ATV rollovers and the number who've died in recreational boating accidents during the same period. How would today's press have dealt with the Battle of the Bulge? Saipan? Guadelcanal? Okinawa? |
| Posted by:Dave D. |
| #11 US March toll may be twice Iraqi ARMY losses, but Iraqi Police are pulling a lot more weight than in the past, and are paying for it with losses roughly double the US. I don't know what the AIF toll is running. Iraqi civilian losses are about flat pre/post 'surge', concentrated in a few big bombings of soft targets, though seemingly with fewer 'reprisal' executions than in the past. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-04-01 17:22 |
| #10 From the misleading article, US casualties were about 80 for the last three months. NO CHANGE even with up-tempo ops for the surge. Notice that it is also correct to say US casualties were roughly half that of the Iraqi police, although that lacks quagmirism. Rather than using the word 'spin', I'll just call the AP a sack of lying bastards. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-04-01 16:14 |
| #9 If monthly US casualties have been running at 60/month and now we suffered 81, then the news is that Iraqi security force casualties are DOWN by a significant margin. Iraqi Army and Police usually have twice as many casualties as the US. If the ratio is reversed then their causalties must be about 1/3 what they were before. Of course, don't expect the MSM to tell you that. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2007-04-01 13:51 |
| #8 Some of today's and yesterday's titles on Irak (q) 04/01/07 ireland.com: Two killed in Mosul bomb attacks 04/01/07 KUNA: Violence overwhelms Mosul cityoutbreak of clashes in several parts of the city, a security source said. 04/01/07 thisisleicestershire:British soldier wounded in Iraq 04/01/07 Reuters: 2 truck bombs wound 15 at Iraq army base 04/01/07 AP: Two suicide vests found unexploded in heavily fortified Green Zone 04/01/07 LATImes: Five killed in hospital blast in Baghdad 04/01/07 KUNA: Two leading Iraqi figures survive bid on their lives near Baghdad 04/01/07 Reuters: Iraq second most dangerous place in the world for minorities 03/31/07 AP: U.S. March toll nearly twice Iraq forces 03/31/07 NPR: Aid Groups See Declining Living Conditions in Iraq 03/31/07 Reuters: car bombs kill 4 in Hilla, 2 in Tuz Khurmato 03/31/07 Reuters: Car bomb wounds 6 in Mosul 03/31/07 Reuters: 5 bodies found in near Suwayra, 13 found in Baghdad 03/31/07 Reuters: Four Sunnis killed in Tal Afar 03/31/07 Reuters: Mortar fire wounds 3 in Husseiniyah 03/31/07 Reuters; Iraqi Tal Afar bomb killed 152, deadliest of war 03/31/07 VOA: Car Bombings in Iraq Kill 11 03/31/07 IWPR : Victims pile up at Mosul city morgue 03/31/07 MNF: Coalition Forces captured 16 suspected terrorists My point? None. Or all the above. |
| Posted by: SwissTex 2007-04-01 13:25 |
| #7 I just read a really depressing piece at Powerline in which a soldier spoke not only about the utter crap that is the Maliki government and how they are infiltrated/actively support the Iranian-backed militias, but how our own military is incredibly inflexible and beauracratic with utterly idiotic ROE. This guy was not optomistic. |
| Posted by: Remoteman 2007-04-01 12:37 |
| #6 AP = All Propaganda |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-04-01 11:56 |
| #5 Do you really trust MSM to actually have gone out to count the number of Iraqi casualties across the country? I have bridge to sell you. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-04-01 09:04 |
| #4 You know what? I'm beginning to think it doesn't matter whether the "surge" succeeds or not: even if it does, the MSM will spin it as a failure. They WILL find an angle. cira the 1960-70 the elite media Corps. re-wrote Vietnam history, please remind the younguns they are seeing a very similar process. The difference is that now we.... ...well I've said it to many times already. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-04-01 08:36 |
| #3 "mistaken impression that casualties were down" I would still have expected a lot higher casualties based on so many additional US troops going outside the wire on a daily basis. Including troops that have been there a while and are not numerically part of the surge per say. I believe the long term average casualty rate has been about 60/month. 81 for March is above that, but on a per capita outside-the-wire basis the individual risk must indeed be coming down. |
| Posted by: Phusorong Panda3347 2007-04-01 08:34 |
| #2 Damnit. I was working under mistaken impression that casualties were down. It didn't make sense with the new up-tempo, but I was hopeful. Damnit. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-04-01 06:43 |
| #1 Farewell Marine During the past month, the US has lost more military soldiers in Iraq than the Iraqi military. Terrorists know that they have defeated the party in majority control of the US Congress. They know that the battle should not center on Baghdad but must be taken to our troops as they now know our politicians are on the run. This disgracefull cowardice by the Democratic Party is costing the lives of greater and nobler men and women who are on the front lines of the WOT. The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sergeant Major Joseph J. Ellis, 40, of Ashland, Ohio, died February 7, 2007, while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Ellis was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California. The military told Traci and Rachael Ellis that he was doing a routine checkpoint search when he approached a suspicious man who detonated a suicide bomb, killing him and injuring another Marine. In reality, the 23 year veteran placed himself between the suicide bomber and his fellow marines... The President of the United States now seems more interested in gaining support and sweet talking to the coward Democratic Congress than standing up to them for our people on the front lines. |
| Posted by: Sheba Angaish9336 2007-04-01 00:32 |