U.S. Monthly Combat Deaths in Iraq at 3-Year High
By TIM ARANGO
Published: June 30, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/world/middleeast/01baghdad.html?_r=2&ref=global-homeBAGHDAD — The American military announced on Thursday that three more American soldiers had been killed this week, as the combat-related deaths for United States forces in Iraq reached a monthly toll not seen since 2008.
The deaths occurred Wednesday in southern Iraq, and the military did not disclose details on how the soldiers died. A military spokesman confirmed that they were killed by enemy attack. Recently, the increase in casualties has been attributed to rocket or mortar attacks on American bases by Shiite militias. American convoys have also come under increasing threat from improvised explosive devices.
The increased threat comes as the Pentagon begins to coordinate a withdrawal of all forces by the end of the year, an effort the military says has resulted in militants’ stepping up attacks so as to claim credit for pushing the Americans out.
The casualties are particularly striking given the diminishing numbers of American forces and their reduced combat role. Fewer than 50,000 troops remain, compared with more than 160,000 at the height of the war.
Fifteen American soldiers have been killed in June, 14 of them in hostile incidents. According to icasualties.org, an online database, this was the highest number of combat fatalities since June 2008, when 23 soldiers and Marines were killed.
The biggest attack came on June 6, when militants fired rockets at Victory Base Complex, the vast garrison near Baghdad’s airport, killing six soldiers. Kataib Hezbollah, a militia that American officials believe is supported by Iran, claimed responsibility for that attack.
Last August, President Obama declared that America’s combat mission had ended in Iraq, and while American forces have largely settled in to an advisory role to the Iraqi military, they are still in harm’s way, whether they are on their bases or moving around in convoys. According to the security agreement between Iraq and the United States, American forces are severely restricted in their ability to act unilaterally to face threats, a fact that has ratcheted up the anxiety — and the anger — among troops who find themselves under attack but unable to respond.
This is compounded by the Iraqi government’s historical reluctance to make targets of Shiite militias, many of which are linked to officials in or close to the Shiite-dominated central government.
Iraqi security forces have been far more aggressive in singling out Sunni insurgent groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq than they have in carrying out operations against Shiite militants.
Meanwhile, the debate persists in Baghdad over whether the government of Iraq should ask the United States to extend the troop deadline and allow some units to stay and continue training exercises. The United States has indicated that it would say yes to such a request, although it is unclear what impact the latest attacks — and troop deaths — would have on that decision.
________________________
_____________________
Funny - I don't see the MSM running daily death counts on the bottom of the screen the way they did with GWB.
