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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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January 5th,
2007 - 2006 was Deadliest Year for U.S. Troops in Iraq |
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2006 was Deadliest Year for
U.S. Troops in Iraq By Gordon Lubold Army Times January 5, 2007 The year 2006 proved to be
the bloodiest year of the Iraq war for U.S. troops, and December was the
third deadliest month, according to new Pentagon data. As President Bush, his war
cabinet and numerous others debate the way ahead in Iraq - and a surge of
thousands more troops appears likely - data shows that Iraq is an
increasingly dangerous place. There were 703 hostile deaths among U.S. troops
in 2006, up from 673 in 2005 and 675 in 2004, according to data obtained by
Military Times but not yet released by the Defense Manpower Data Center. Likewise, violence claimed
the lives of 111 U.S. troops in December - the third highest monthly tally
since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The highest was 137 in November
2004, followed by 135 in April 2004. The new data comes as Bush
ponders sending as many as 30,000 more troops to Iraq to try to stem the
sectarian violence there and to allow the country’s fledgling government to
gain control. But the violence still
likely is to get worse, said two key U.S. senators and other experts at a
forum Friday at a conservative think tank in Washington. “I want to be clear, and I
mean this with all sincerity, [a surge] strategy will mean more casualties
and extra hardships for our brave fighting men and women, and the violence
may get worse before it gets better,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said at the
American Enterprise Institute at which he endorsed a plan to surge troops in
Iraq. “We have to be prepared for this.” McCain, among others,
believes thousands more troops must be sent to Iraq for an extended period to
get the job done in Iraq. “Our soldiers should know
that, as they face these great dangers, they are working toward a strategy
that gives us the best chance to succeed at a time when our national security
is directly at stake,” he said. Not everyone agrees about
the wisdom of a surge, and Democrats strongly oppose such a plan. “Adding more combat troops
will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking
point for no strategic gain,” stated a letter sent to President Bush by House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
“We want to do everything we can to help Iraq succeed in the future but, like
many of our senior military leaders, we do not believe that adding more U.S.
combat troops contributes to success.” A political, rather than
military, solution is what’s needed, the letter said. “Adding more combat troops
will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking
point for no strategic gain,” the letter said. “And it would undermine our
efforts to get the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. We are
well past the point of more troops for Iraq.” Staff writer Rick Maze
contributed to this report. External link: http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2464347.php |