May deaths could be least of Iraq warBy Charles Levinson - USA Today
Posted : Friday May 30, 2008 11:31:25 EDT
BAGHDAD — This May has been one of the least violent months of the Iraq war. The relative calm follows a cease-fire agreement by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his militia in the face of steady pressure from U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Eighteen U.S. service members have been identified as having died in Iraq so far in May, according to the Pentagon. To date, the least deadly month of the five-year war was February 2004, when 21 U.S. troops were killed in a 29-day period. The number of wounded also has fallen.
Overall, militant attacks in Iraq have dropped to levels not seen since spring 2004, U.S. military spokesman Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said this week. Attacks are down 70 percent since President Bush ordered a U.S. troop increase, or “surge,” early last year.
Sadr agreed to a truce earlier this month after two months of clashes with U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces. The fighting followed a decision by the Iraqi government to rein in al-Sadr’s Mahdi army and other Shiite militant groups. Iraqi forces have also intensified their offensive against Sunni militants, including al-Qaida, in the northern city of Mosul.
“We’re seeing progress because we’re getting more capability out of the Iraqi security forces,” said Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin III, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq.
Rest of article at:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/gns_iraqdeaths_053008/