Looks like the War in Iraq is almost over...

[Islandman]

It will be interesting to see if and when this will start affecting the Presidential race.
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Big drop in U.S. combat deaths in Iraq

The number of U.S. combat fatalities in Iraq hit a new low this month, according to the latest statistics.

Reuters, citing data from icasualties.org, says hostile fire has claimed the lives of five Americans since July 1. Four troops died in accidents or the like, Reuters says. The bodies of two missing soldiers were recovered this month, too.

That's a big improvement over July 2007, when 66 Americans died in combat.

All told, the Pentagon has recorded 4,128 deaths since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in March 2003. The number of wounded troops exceeds 30,400, including 13,514 men and women who were unable to return to duty within three days

[Mosiah]

After 4,000 deaths that should never have happened, it should not change a thing!

[Islandman]

Maybe it shouldn't but it probably will.

My general feeling is that most Americans were not really against this war, or just about any other war they are involved in.

They are only against losing wars.

[Gamma]

yuh mean they are revisionists?

between the 4000+ dead and the 30000+ injured this has NEGATIVELY affected and exponential number of lives in the US...how many iraqi civilains dead and injured, since the war was won!

[HL]

Quiet you!

jamaica is not at war--yet the annual murder rate for this little country is ~ 40% 0f the 4,000 deaths you mentioned.

You muss get in the habit of leaving some post alone.

[Islandman]

I don't know if the war was won by the US military, it just hasn't been lost and they will probably be able to leave with some kind of shaky ceasefire after all. That didn't look possible a year ago.

The number of Iraqis killed? By who? The US military? Al Queda? Baathists? Sunni-Shia killings? In total I am sure it was in the hundreds of thousands.

[Jawge]

Boss mi notice yuh shy away from
certain thread. Why? Can lend your thoughts on my response to the "letter of the day, cameras on gun" last but not least crisis in the PNP. Thanks.

[Mosiah]

Yuh Internet chest big, eh? Wait till mi ketch a Atlanta!

And thanks for totally ignoring the number of Iraqi deaths. Typical!

[Don1]

It will be interesting to see if and when this will start affecting the Presidential race.
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Big drop in U.S. combat deaths in Iraq

The number of U.S. combat fatalities in Iraq hit a new low this month, according to the latest statistics.

Reuters, citing data from icasualties.org, says hostile fire has claimed the lives of five Americans since July 1. Four troops died in accidents or the like, Reuters says. The bodies of two missing soldiers were recovered this month, too.

That's a big improvement over July 2007, when 66 Americans died in combat.

All told, the Pentagon has recorded 4,128 deaths since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in March 2003. The number of wounded troops exceeds 30,400, including 13,514 men and women who were unable to return to duty within three days

we have heard before that the war is over.. that proved premature and so may this lull.
The US strategy of paying off the Sunni tribes to wean them off the insurrection is effective... let's see what happens when they start to reduce troop levels.

Also, why is it that some equate less US deaths with the war being won? Strange.

[Islandman]

I don't have too much to contribute to the PNP leadership debates at this point. I guess I don't have a very strong preference for either candidate.

Anyway, I don't want to hijack my own thread, (or as HL might say, cause a primary breakdown of a thread that i started) so I'll respond in one of the many new threads that are sure to start daily on this topic.

[Islandman]

When the Iraqi PM himself says he is comfortable with US forces starting to pull out, that tells me that something major has changed on the ground.

Again, I don't know if the war can be considered "won" as nobody has defined what victory is or isn't, but the war certainly seems to near an ending.

[Don1]

When the Iraqi PM himself says he is comfortable with US forces starting to pull out, that tells me that something major has changed on the ground.

Again, I don't know if the war can be considered "won" as nobody has defined what victory is or isn't, but the war certainly seems to near an ending.

let's see...

[Bricktop]

I heard an advisor speaking about this on NPR the other day. The reason US casualties are down is because they aren't going out. They are staying in their fortified camps. He said there is no way they can "win" the war like that.

[Hortical]

Iraq suicide attacks: 53 dead, 240 Injured


Boss the war is far from over.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/Newsde...-attacks,37477
A wave of suicide bombings across Iraq yesterday left at least 53 people dead and as many as 240 injured. Three suicide bombers targeted Baghdad as tens of thousands of Shia pilgrims streamed into the city for an annual event commemorating the death of an eighth-century saint. The quick succession of suicide attacks and a roadside bomb killed at least 28 and wounded 90