AFP: 2007 deadliest year for US troops in Iraq

Despite a drop in US casualties in the past six months, 2007 has proved the deadliest year for American forces in Iraq since the invasion, with at least 896 soldiers killed, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.
The previous most lethal year for the American military since the US-led invasion of March 2003 was in 2004, when 846 soldiers died.
Since May, when 126 soldiers were killed, casualty figures have been falling month by month with the December toll set to be the lowest since February 2004, when 20 soldiers died in the least deadly month of the war.
The December toll stands at 21, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures, but the number could rise as the US military sometimes takes days to report deaths pending notification of next of kin.
The military reported that a soldier died of non-combat related injuries on Sunday, bringing the total number of American soldiers killed since the invasion to 3,901.
US commanders attribute the high casualty rate in May to the influx of an extra 28,500 troops on the ground as part of a "surge" ordered in February by US President George W. Bush.
Since then, they say, the strategy has paid off with the number of attacks across Iraq falling by 60 percent after peaking in June to levels not seen since before February 2006, when a wave of sectarian violence was unleashed by the bombing of a Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra.
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For the second straight day, U.S. troops fatally fire on vehicles in Iraq.

By LEILA FADEL
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD For the second day in a row, American troops Tuesday killed Iraqi civilians when they fired on a vehicle that they thought was a threat, the U.S. military said.
Two people died and four were injured when a U.S. soldier fired at a minibus transporting workers to a bank operated by the Iraqi Finance Ministry, the military said. Iraqi police and employees at the bank said four people were killed, including three women, and two were injured.
The U.S. military also reported that two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Salah ad Din province. Two soldiers were wounded.
The military gave no further details.
The minibus was driving near a U.S. military outpost in the al-Shaab neighborhood of northern Baghdad when it ended up on a road where only car traffic is permitted, the military said. American soldiers signaled the minibus to stop, and when it did not, one of them fired a warning shot.
On Monday, a child and two men were killed when their vehicle rushed through a U.S. military roadblock while the military was conducting an operation in Bayji, north of Baghdad. U.S. soldiers opened fire on the vehicle.

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CBS shows terrorism suspect allegedly building bomb materials

Footage casts Khadr in sinister light
Twelve-minute video broadcast on CBS shows terrorism suspect allegedly building bomb materials
COLIN FREEZE
November 19, 2007
CBS News has broadcast shocking new footage of a Canadian terrorism suspect allegedly building bomb timers and planting land mines while he was a 15-year-old militant hoping to take on American soldiers in Afghanistan.
The footage, some of it shot on a night-vision camera by alleged al-Qaeda fighters before it was seized by U.S. forces after a deadly raid, leaves a more sinister impression of Omar Khadr than the widely circulated photo of him as a boy benignly smiling at the camera.
That teenaged terrorism suspect's image has been reproduced the world over since he was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 and sent to the Guantanamo Bay prison experiment on allegations of killing an American soldier.
The military has long been planning to show the seized videotape during trial, but proceedings have repeatedly stalled before the evidence could be aired.
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Who's the bad guy here?

VENTURING FORTH A man and boy warily go outside to assess the damage to their neighborhood in Samara. The boy’s white flag does not deflect the barrel of a soldier’s gun.

This photo, courtesy of New York Times, really caught my eye, so much so that I had to share it with my bloggers. The very first feeling I got from this was absolute horror to see a gun pointed at these innocent people. Then immediately after thinking that I had second thoughts telling me that this kid and old man probably have a bomb strapped to their side. Is that wrong to feel that way? Seriously, how are we supposed to feel this? How do our men and women in the armed forces handle this without absolutely loosing their mind?
Anyway, I thought the New York Times had a very interesting set of photos in their slide show, so if you would like to check it out, here is the link: New York Times Slide Shows!

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US Military in Iraq Searches for Militants Believed Linked to Soldiers' Kidnapping

U.S. soldiers dig during a search for the bodies of two soldiers in the town of Awesat, south of Baghdad, 16 Nov 2007The U.S. military says it launched pre-dawn raids south of Baghdad Friday to hunt for militants believed to be linked to the kidnapping of two American soldiers.
The military says helicopters dropped 600 soldiers into the villages of Owesap and Betra, while warplanes dropped two bombs to block possible escape routes. Some 150 Iraqi soldiers also took part in the operation.

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Army desertions skyrocket

This year, 4,698 U.S. Army soldiers have deserted, an increase of 42% from last year and 80% since the 2003 Iraq invasion, the Pentagon says. At the same time, Navy and Marine desertions fell.
The rates remain below those for the draft-fed Vietnam War, but they still reflect the growing strain of deployments to Iraq. More than 75% of deserters are in their first term.
Soldiers who are absent without leave for more than 30 days are declared to be deserters and discharged.
"We're asking a lot of soldiers these days," said Roy Wallace, the Army's director of personnel plans and resources. "They're humans. They have all sorts of issues back home and other places like that. So, I'm sure it has to do with the stress of being a soldier."
The Army Times and the Associated Press have filed the most detailed stories so far.
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US General: Iran Sticking by Pledge
By ROBERT H. REID

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran seems to be honoring a commitment to stem the flow of deadly weapons into Iraq, contributing to a more than 50 percent drop in the number of roadside bombs that kill and maim American troops, a U.S. general said Thursday.
The comments by Maj. Gen. James Simmons marked rare U.S. praise for Iranian cooperation in efforts to stabilize Iraq. Washington has repeatedly accused the Islamic Republic of aiding Shiite militias and trying to foil U.S. goals in Iraq and the region.
But it remains unclear why Iran may have decided to choke off the suspected weapons pipeline. One possibility is that Iran — the most populous Shiite nation — is seeking to shore up the struggling government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, in the belief it will help Tehran's long-term interests.
Simmons, a deputy commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, told reporters that the number of roadside bombs either found or exploded nationwide had fallen from 3,239 in March to 1,560 last month.
The October figure was the lowest since September 2005, he said.


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Soldiers share their images of life in Iraq and Afghanistan

At first, Master Sgt. Wayne Kettlehut’s pictures and videos from Iraq went unviewed.
The images ran the gamut — from smiling, sweaty American soldiers in front of Blackhawk helicopters to grim-faced suspected Iraqi insurgents to piles of cached bombs and mortars.
Those piles of explosives were the reason Kettlehut was in Iraq.
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2007 Is Deadliest Year for U.S. Troops in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Nov. 6 — Six American soldiers were killed in three separate attacks in Iraq on Monday, the military said Tuesday, taking the number of deaths this year to 852. The toll makes 2007 the deadliest year of the war for United States troops.

Military officials announced the discovery of a mass grave holding 22 bodies in a rural area north of Falluja. They also said that nine Iranians being held in Iraq would soon be released, including two of the five who were detained during a January raid of a consulate office in Erbil.
Five of the American soldiers died in two roadside bomb attacks on Monday near Kirkuk, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, director of the communications division of the Multinational Force-Iraq, the formal name for the United States-led forces.

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U.S. solider in Iraq will win Super Bowl tickets - Scott Wong

U.S. solider in Iraq will win Super Bowl tickets
Scott WongThe Arizona RepublicNov. 3, 2007 12:00 AM
A lucky American soldier stationed in Iraq doesn't know it yet, but he or she will have a great view of the Super Bowl in Glendale on Feb. 3.Phoenix-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance, a Defense Department contractor that provides health care for military personnel and veterans, is donating two of its Super Bowl tickets to a soldier stationed at Camp Speicher in Tikrit. TriWest is working with the Pentagon on details of the trip. A drawing will be held in January.
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