US Deaths In Iraq Lowest Since March 2006
Fox News' Special Report reported, "The Pentagon has counted 24 hostile deaths in October, the fewest since March of 2006. Ten others have died of non- hostile causes, such as accidents and illness, for a total of 34." USA Today reports the "number of US combat deaths in Iraq is headed for the lowest level in more than a year and a half and the fifth consecutive monthly decline." The "new strategy, backed up by 30,000 more US servicemembers, has led to a decline in violence and weakened al-Qaeda, commanders say."
The AP, however, reports "the military cautioned it's too early to declare a long-term trend," though it "would be the second consecutive drop in monthly figures, after 65 Americans died in September and 84 in August." The Christian Science Monitor reports the data are "an encouraging sign, say analysts and defense officials, that the US strategy is working, at least for now."
Two of the three network newscasts noted the story last night although they appeared to assign different significance to the new data. ABC World News saw the casualty numbers as "another indication of how things are changing." NBC Nightly News, meanwhile, reported that in Iraq, "three more Americans were killed there today when an IED went off southeast of Baghdad. That brings the toll for October to 37 Americans dead, which we should point out is the lowest monthly total in a year and a half. Since the war started almost 4 1/2 years ago, more than 3,800 Americans have died in the war in Iraq."
GAO Report Highlights Ongoing Problems McClatchy reports, "The US and Iraqi governments have failed to take advantage of a dramatic drop in violence in Iraq, according to a report issued Tuesday by a US watchdog agency, which warned that prospects were waning 'for achieving current US security, political and economic goals in Iraq.'" The Washington Post says "progress on political goals and reconstruction has been stalled by weaknesses in US strategy and the ineffectiveness of the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad," according to a GAO report.
The New York Times reports "more than $100 billion has been devoted to rebuilding Iraq, mainly thanks to American taxpayers and Iraqi oil revenues, but nearly five years into the conflict, output in critical areas like water and electricity remain below United States goals, federal oversight officials reported to Congress on Tuesday."
And the CBS Evening News ran a piece about "a new threat tonight, not from bombs or bullets, but from a dam that could burst at any time. It was built during the Saddam era north of Mosul. And if it goes...the results could be catastrophic."