Decline in troop deaths? Not quite.
So analysts wonder why troop deaths have fallen. But the chart reveals something they don’t mention. The deaths have declined compared to one of the deadliest months in more than four years of war.
But compare them, month by month, to the same month in the previous year.
Every single month in 2007 has seen more US troops die than died in the comparable month in 2006. Except August.
I think we lost 2 or 3 fewer soldiers in August 2007 than in August 2006. Thay’s statistically insignificant.
On the other hand, Iraqi deaths are higher. That’s morally and strategically significant and can’t be spun away by playing tricks with numbers.
Update, per icasualties.org, via Comments From Left Field:
Shown are Jan 06 deaths/Jan 07 deaths, followed by Feb, Mar, etc.
Jan: 62/83
Feb: 55/81
Mar: 31/81
Apr: 76/104
May: 69/126
Jun: 61/101
Jul: 43/79
Aug: 65/81
So the normally reliable McClatchy News got their graphic wrong for August. EVERY month has had higher casualties than in the year before. We’ve declined from the May peak, but there was a similar 3 month decline from April to July last year. And more importantly, 462 troops died in the first 8 months of 2006, and 736 have died in the first 8 months of 2007. That’s a 59% INCREASE, as a result of Bush refusing his own Iraq Study Group’s recommendations to withdraw troops. At this rate, Bush’s war escalation has achieved three noticeable differences: more US troops are dying faster, more Iraqis are dying faster and our main ally - Great Britain - is getting the hell out of Bush’s deadly folly.
September 3rd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
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