As certain folk here on this board have a habit of opening threads accusing other board members of ignoring good news about Iraq, I thought I’d post a bit of good news about Iraq:
[Quote=AP]
The U.S. military toll for September was 64, the lowest since July 2006, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press from death announcements by the American command and Pentagon.
More dramatic, however, was the decline in Iraqi civilian, police and military deaths. The figure was 988 in September — 50 percent lower than the previous month and the lowest tally since June 2006, when 847 Iraqis died.
[/Quote]
Right, so remember, no one’s ignoring the fact that only a thousand or so people bought the farm in the Iraq conflict during the past month. Carry on.
That’s because before that was particularly bad, not because now is particularly good. See the figures here under the title Military Fatalities: By Month.
The average daily deaths in coalition forces in May 2007 (4.23) was the highest since April 2004 (4.67), so it’s no surprise there’s been a reduction since that unusual high. Even the June 2007 toll of 3.6 was the highest since January 2005 (4.1). The figures for July, August and Sept 2007 are definitely down but this has happened before; they dropped from 3.19 in Oct 2005 to 1.06 in Feb 2006, a 66% decrease.
I haven’t correlated the figures in that table with Ramadan, but I wouldn’t mind betting the low points coincide with it - and remember it is Ramadan right now.
I wouldn’t be pinning your hopes for peace in Iraq on three months’ figures just yet.