Military Reports Lower Casualty Rates in Key Iraq Insurgent Strongholds
U.S. combat troop deaths and other violence in Iraq are down significantly in some of the most dangerous places of insurgent activity, including Al Anbar province, military officials in Washington and Baghdad said Wednesday.
How low, you ask?
Maybe most significant was that last week there was not a single military casualty – Iraqi or U.S. – in Anbar, said Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, a Joint Chiefs spokesman. It is apparently the first time since March 2003 that could be said.
As you may all recall, Anbar province used to be al-Qaeda’s capital in Iraq.
Bill Roggio: “The darkness has become pitch black” – Osama bin Laden on Iraq situation.
Osama laments that “the darkness has become pitch black.” That’s him looking into his soul.
Things must be boring for reporters in Iraq, indeed.
Update:
In today’s blogger’s call, I had the opportunity of asking Senator McCain if he could comment on the news. His reply was,
I hope Harry Reid and the media get to hear about it.
This success is directly related to the surge – the Sunni sheiks joined in against al-Qaeda, and now the Shia are doing the same thing….
Overall, it’s a great success story I look forward to seeing it reported on CNN & other unbiased outlets.
You can read more about the Iraq report here.
James Joyner has more on McCain’s bloggers’ call.