"Casualties"

Iwas just at Lunaville's official Iraq war casualty site, and I see that thus far this month, that the U.S. has had at least 101 deaths. The previous monthly high for U.S. troops was 82 in Nov. 2003.

I see we're making real progress.

Who knows how many Iraqis have lost their lives since the beginning of hostilities?

In Fallujah this month alone there have been well in excess of 600 deaths reported. And I fear that the last half of this month may yet be bloodier.

The on-again, off-again nature of the "ceasefire" in Fallujah - which seems to mean that coalition forces won't use AC130s, tanks and attack helicopters, while marine snipers continue to shoot ambulances and TV crews - doesn't bode well for future peace.

It's unclear what role Negroponte will play, as it's reported that Bremer cannot control the 'police operations' in Iraq.

On Edit: The always resourceful Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau adds some historical perspective on the Iraqi death toll.

[snip]...The last time U.S. troops experienced a two-week loss such as this one in Iraq was October 1971, two years before U.S. ground involvement ended in Vietnam.

There are 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Nearly 700 American troops have died since the beginning of the war. As of Sunday, 503 had been reported killed in action. At least 3,630 more have been wounded.

The Vietnam War started with a slower death rate. The United States had been involved in Vietnam for six years before total fatalities surpassed 500 in 1965, the year President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a massive buildup of forces. There were 20,000 troops in Vietnam by the end of 1964. There were more than 200,000 a year later.

By the end of 1966, U.S. combat deaths in Vietnam had reached 3,910. By 1968, the peak of U.S. involvement, there were more than 500,000 troops in the country. During the same two-week period of April that year, 752 U.S. soldiers died, according to National Archives records....[snip]

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