EU-DIGEST

2007 Is Deadliest Year for US in Iraq

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. Five U.S. soldiers were killed Monday in two separate roadside bomb attacks, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, director of the Multi-National Force-Iraq's communications division.

Note EU-Digest: Unfortunately in all these figures no one ever seems to mention the civilian casualties. The Huffington Post recently noted: "The fault for all this confusion about civilian casualties lies with the U.S. military, which decided early on it was not worth counting Iraqi civilian casualties. Even the term given to their tragic loss at the hands of U.S. forces -- "collateral damage" -- smacks of bureaucratic hubris. A chilling segment on 60 Minutes reports that 30 civilians killed was the magic number Pentagon officials could live with when targeting a "high-value" terrorist in Afghanistan; anything higher requires approval from the defense secretary or president. The Pentagon should keep closer tabs on Iraqi (and Afghan) civilian deaths, especially when the United States is at fault. Only the American military has the presence on the ground and resources to catalog reliable statistics. It won't, for obvious PR reasons, but it has in the past. After military operations in Somalia and Kosovo in the 1990s, for instance, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted body count estimates of local civilians. They should do the same for Iraq and Afghanistan."

Labels: Casualties, Iraq, US