Thursday, June 21, 2007
Bloodbath
The level of U.S. casualties in Iraq had decreased for awhile this month after reaching 104 in April and 126 in May, but when you're in the middle of a "surge" and trying to "take the fight to the insurgents," casualties can go up at any time. And they just have:
68 U.S. soldiers have been killed so far this month in Iraq. If the level of casualties continues at the current 3.38 a day, there will be more than a 100 again this month. That would mean more than 100 U.S. casualties in Iraq for three consecutive months.
What are we getting in return for these lives?
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said on Thursday it was setting a trap to “eliminate” militants near Baghdad, where 15 American troops died in the past three days, including five slain Thursday in a single roadside bombing that also killed four Iraqis.
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Elsewhere, a suicide truck bomber struck the Sulaiman Bek city hall in a predominantly Sunni area of northern Iraq, killing at least 16 people and wounding 67, an Iraqi commander said.
The latest U.S. deaths raised to at least 3,545 the number of American troops who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The deadliest attack was a roadside bomb that struck a convoy in northeastern Baghdad on Thursday, killing five U.S. soldiers, three Iraqi civilians and one Iraqi interpreter, the military said.
A rocket-propelled grenade struck a vehicle in northern Baghdad about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, killing one soldier and wounding three others, another statement said.
Four other U.S. soldiers were killed and one was wounded Wednesday when their convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in a western neighborhood in the capital, the military said separately.
Southwest of Baghdad, two U.S. soldiers were killed and four were wounded Wednesday when explosions struck near their vehicle, according to a statement earlier in the day.
Two Marines also were killed Wednesday while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, the military said.
Counting a previously announced U.S. fatality that occurred Tuesday, the latest military statements meant that 15 troops were killed over a three-day period.
68 U.S. soldiers have been killed so far this month in Iraq. If the level of casualties continues at the current 3.38 a day, there will be more than a 100 again this month. That would mean more than 100 U.S. casualties in Iraq for three consecutive months.
What are we getting in return for these lives?
