Added forces credited for decline in military deaths in Iraq

07/26/2007

The No. 2 American commander there says casualty figures appear to be declining after three straight months in which more than 100 U.S. soldiers had died.


By Ned Parker,
LA Times Staff Writer
July 26, 2007


BAGHDAD -- The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq today hailed a decline in the number of U.S. military fatalities so far this month as an indication that the increase in American forces was having a positive effect on security in Iraq.

After three straight months in which more than 100 U.S. soldiers died, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters that the casualty figures appeared to be going down but said that he needed more time to see whether the trend had staying power.

As Odierno spoke, the known death toll in July was 63. However, later in the day the military reported seven new deaths.

"We've started to see a slow but gradual reduction in casualties, and it continues in July," Odierno said at a joint news conference with Iraqi military commander Maj. Gen. Abud Qanbar. "It's an initial positive sign, but I would argue we need a bit more time to make an assessment whether it's a true trend."

Odierno said he thought the decline could be traced to the U.S. military's seizing back of terrain in Baghdad, a belt of land around the southern fringe of the capital and northeastern Diyala province, where it had little presence before the start of its Baghdad offensive in February.

"We topped out in May in casualties and we kind of predicted that because we went into areas that we had not been in for a long time, and they were safe havens established by the extremists," Odierno said. "Going into these areas, we knew it would be tough in the beginning. We've now taken control of these areas."

About 30,000 additional U.S. troops have flooded Baghdad, taking up residence in neighborhoods as part of Washington's strategy to stabilize the country.

The newly reported U.S. military deaths included a soldier killed in a gun battle in southern Baghdad on Wednesday. Three Marines and a sailor were killed Tuesday in Diyala, the military said, the site of a massive campaign in June and July to reclaim the province's capital, Baqubah, from Sunni militants.

A soldier was killed in a bomb blast Tuesday in Baghdad, and a Marine died Sunday of noncombat injuries.

Odierno noted the increased accuracy of attacks on the Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government, by mortars and rockets in the last three months. He blamed Iran for supplying the weapons and training the Shiite militants behinds the attacks.

On July 10, at least 35 mortars and rockets pounded the fortified enclave, killing at least three people, including an American, and wounding 18.

A car bomb exploded Thursday near a market in eastern Baghdad's prosperous Karrada district, killing at least 21 people and wounding 62, hospital and police officials said. Two small children were among the dead.

Hassan Abdul-Kareem, 31, who owns a clothing shop about 300 yards from the explosion, said the car bomb exploded next to a four-story building that housed apartments, private clinics and offices.

"The market was pretty active at the time of the explosion," he said. "There were many burned victims. The street had puddles of blood and the air smelled like burned flesh."

Elsewhere in Baghdad, a mortar round claimed the life of a pedestrian in the eastern part of the city. A drive-by shooting on the city's highway killed two people, police said.