Posted on 10/07/2006 9:24:04 PM PDT by jmc1969
The number of U.S. troops wounded in Iraq has surged to its highest level in nearly two years as American GIs fight block-by-block in Baghdad to try to check a spiral of sectarian violence that U.S. commanders warn could lead to civil war.
Last month, 776 U.S. troops were wounded in action in Iraq, the highest number since the military assault to retake the insurgent-held city of Fallujah in November 2004, according to Defense Department data. It was the fourth-highest monthly total since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
The sharp increase in American wounded — with nearly 300 more in the first week of October — is a grim measure of the degree to which the U.S. military has been thrust into the lead of the effort to stave off full-scale civil war in Iraq, military officials and experts say. Beyond Baghdad, Marines battling Sunni insurgents in Iraq's western province of Anbar last month also suffered their highest number of wounded in action since late 2004.
"September was horrific" in terms of the toll of wounded, and if the early October trend continues, this month could be "the worst month of the war," said John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a Virginia-based Web site that tracks defense issues.
The worsening violence in Baghdad has led some Pentagon officials to criticize decisions by the U.S. military since early 2005 to transfer responsibility for security in large swaths of Baghdad to Iraqi forces while cutting back on American patrols.
"We made decisions to take an indirect approach, which is great if you want low U.S. casualty rates," said the Pentagon official. However, he said: "Passing responsibility to Iraqis does not equal defeating terrorists and neutralizing the insurgency. Period."
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I'm confused (which is nothing new :). Did this come from the WaPo or pmsnbc?
MSNBC hosted an article from the Washington Post.
"I see," said the blind man. Thanks!
They know the American people, as a whole, don't understand what the word "casualty" means. People will read the headline and assume US soldiers are dying left and right as they vote for the Al Qaida demonrats.
The three biggest news sources that have been the most on the most anti war streak of late have been NBC, Newsweek and the Washington Post.
The Simes is a communist rag that shouldn't be considered news anymore.
That's what the MSM and the Rats want it to be about, but in the minds of most Americans, it's not, and the Rats are gonna lose again.
And that is why we will keep our control of Congress. Our voters, including the "values voters" are smart enough to know that the sins of one man does not effect a whole party that has advanced the cause of pro-life and other social values through many laws, at the contrary our base knows very well that the democrat party is the party of abortionists, gay agenda, and other despicable social agendas that will destroy our society if they have the power to implement it.
Our troops have been placed between the parties of a civil war, as policemen, and both parties (sunni and shia) have American blood on their hands. I'm beginning to think the Iraq war is more about saving face now than it is about killing islamofacists. We need to redefine the enemy and open up the 'rules of engagement' if we are to fight and win this war. As it is now we are fighting a PC war to impress a watchful world and media, which plays right into the hands of the enemy. We have become so arrogant, (or stupid), that we think we can go to war and win without giving our best efforts.
those troops may have be redeployed east soon. The problem with Iraq lies in Damascus and Tehran. once Iran goes, it's puppet will too.
More Americans were killed in Europe in 1945 than in 1944. What year did the war end? MSM spin with no historical context at all. Shocking I know.
What about the full-scale civil war in FRANCE? They never talk about that one.
Doesn't fit the template.
You are right.
When the American forces attacked Okinawa , April 1, 1945 – June 21, 1945, we suffered 12,500 KIA or missing in action and 38,000 combat wounded and 33,000 non combat wounded. We lost 33 ships, and 763 aircraft.
We killed 110,000 of the enemy. We sank 16 of his ships and destroyed 7,800 of his aircraft. Less than 2 months later, on August 15th 1945, the war ended with a bang in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It is darkest before the dawn.
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