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US troop deaths push monthly toll to 7-month high in Iraq?

What does this say about Iraq?

BAGHDAD — The killings of three U.S. soldiers in separate attacks in Baghdad pushed the American death toll for April up to 47, making it the deadliest month since September, the military said Wednesday.

One soldier died when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. The other died of wounds sustained when he was attacked by small-arms fire, the military said. Both incidents occurred Tuesday in northwestern Baghdad.

A third soldier died in a roadside bombing Tuesday night in the east of the capital, the military said.

The statement did not give a more specific location. But the eastern half of Baghdad includes embattled Sadr City and other neighborhoods that have been the focus of intense combat between Shiite militants and U.S.-Iraqi troops for more than a month.

In all, at least 4,059 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

“We have said all along that this will be a tough fight and there will be periods where we see these extremists, these criminal groups and al-Qaida terrorists seek to reassert themselves,” U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner told reporters in Baghdad.

“So, the sacrifice of our troopers, the sacrifice of Iraqi forces and Iraqi citizens reflects this challenge,” Bergner said in response to a question about what’s behind the increase in American troop deaths.

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Posted by JohnKonop on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 3:41 am | under Uncategorized | |RSS 2.0 feed | Comments and pings closed. |

10 Responses to “US troop deaths push monthly toll to 7-month high in Iraq?”

  1. JohnKonop says:
    April 30, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    U.S.: Al-Qaida Rebuilding Pre-9/11 Capabilities

    NPR-

    Al-Qaida has managed to rebuild some of its pre-9/11 capabilities in Pakistan’s tribal areas, contributing to a surge in terrorist attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, a State Department report said Wednesday.

    Afghanistan has witnessed a 16 percent increase in terrorist attacks between 2006 and 2007 because of resurgent extremist activity there and in neighboring Pakistan, the report said.

    The report also said attacks in Iraq were down slightly from 2006 to 2007, but still accounted for 60 percent of worldwide terrorism fatalities. More than 22,000 people were killed by terrorists around the world in 2007 – 8 percent more than in 2006, although the number of actual attacks fell.

    Al-Qaida and its affiliates remain “the greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its partners.”

  2. JohnKonop says:
    May 1, 2008 at 5:50 am

    “Mission Accomplished” 5 Years Later

    HP-

    The White House said Wednesday that President Bush has paid a price for the “Mission Accomplished” banner that was flown in triumph five years ago but later became a symbol of U.S. misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq.

    Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush’s dramatic landing in a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier homebound from the war. The USS Abraham Lincoln had launched thousands of airstrikes on Iraq.

    “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended,” Bush said at the time. “The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on.” The “Mission Accomplished” banner was prominently displayed above him _ a move the White House came to regret as the display was mocked and became a source of controversy.

    After shifting explanations, the White House eventually said the “Mission Accomplished” phrase referred to the carrier’s crew completing its 10-month mission, not the military completing its mission in Iraq. Bush, in October 2003, disavowed any connection with the “Mission Accomplished” message. He said the White House had nothing to do with the banner; a spokesman later said the ship’s crew asked for the sign and the White House staff had it made by a private vendor.

    “President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific and said `mission accomplished’ for these sailors who are on this ship on their mission,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday. “And we have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner. And I recognize that the media is going to play this up again tomorrow, as they do every single year.”

    She said what is important now is “how the president would describe the fight today. It’s been a very tough month in Iraq, but we are taking the fight to the enemy.”

    At least 49 U.S. troops died in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month since September when 65 U.S. troops died.

    Now in its sixth year, the war in Iraq has claimed the lives of at least 4,061 members of the U.S. military. Only the Vietnam War (August 1964 to January 1973), the war in Afghanistan (October 2001 to present) and the Revolutionary War (July 1776 to April 1783) have engaged America longer.

    Bush, in a speech earlier this month, said that “while this war is difficult, it is not endless.”

  3. Iraq » US troop deaths push monthly toll to 7-month high in Iraq? says:
    May 1, 2008 at 6:01 am

    [...] Hullabaloo wrote an interesting post today on US troop deaths push monthly toll to 7-month high in Iraq?Here’s a quick excerptIn all, at least 4,059 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. [...]

  4. bb says:
    May 1, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    “Mission Accomplished” banner has been misrepresented far too long by dems/media (one in the same) seeking to diminish the honor and courage of America’s brave warriors on the field of battle in Iraq. It seems most agree with Reverend Wright that 4000 lives were wasted for nothing and constantly refer to the banner as a symbol of this waste.

    It’s a damn shame America is still having to fight the good fight in Iraq. Maybe if majority dems would quit promising to cut and run, we could wrap this thing up and let our men and women come home.

  5. JohnKonop says:
    May 1, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    Bart

    HUH?

  6. Anonymous says:
    May 1, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    Yeah, if it wasn’t for the dems we could “wrap this thing up”.

    Damn it, you dems.

    Just get out of the way, and let our boys and girls come home!

    Mission accomplished.

  7. bb says:
    May 1, 2008 at 11:03 pm

    Simple John…people like you and your idol Keith Olberman constantly reference the Mission Accomplished banner as if it was a statement of conclusion to the war…it was not.

    It was a banner hung on behalf of the honorable US Navy sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln after serving their time in the war zone including the longest at sea stint without port ever for a US carrier (surpassing my former ship the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower).

  8. JohnKonop says:
    May 2, 2008 at 5:29 am

    NICE SPIN

  9. Anonymous says:
    May 2, 2008 at 10:46 am

    Spin?

    from wiki — “The banner stating “Mission Accomplished” was a focal point of controversy and criticism. Navy Commander and Pentagon spokesman Conrad Chun said the banner referred specifically to the aircraft carrier’s 10-month deployment (which was the longest deployment of a carrier since the Vietnam War) and not the war itself, saying “It truly did signify a mission accomplished for the crew.”

  10. bb says:
    May 2, 2008 at 10:47 am

    Previous post was not anonymous…forgot to sign in.

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