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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (35500)	8/31/2005 8:27:40 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361189

U.S. deaths in Iraq in August most since January AP Aug 31 U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war rose in August to the highest monthly total since January, and American officials predict escalating insurgent violence ahead of a planned October constitutional referendum. At least 84 U.S. troops were killed in August, according to a count of deaths announced by the military. Since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, there have been 1,879 American military deaths in Iraq, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, with another 14,265 troops wounded. The August toll, which followed two months of declining U.S. military deaths, comes at a time when opinion polls show a slight majority of Americans believe the war was not worth fighting. Last week, President George W. Bush, who faced anti-war protests near his Texas ranch while on vacation this month, referred to the death toll and said the United States should honor the dead by completing the mission in Iraq. Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, a military spokesman in Baghdad, attributed the rise in U.S. deaths to aggressive operations against insurgents. The only higher monthly U.S. death toll this year came in January, when 107 troops died during a period of heightened violence in the run-up to the January 30 parliamentary elections. In August's deadliest incident, 14 Marines died on August 3 south of Haditha in western Iraq when their Amphibious Assault Vehicle was blown up by insurgents with a roadside bomb made from three landmines. There also were at least eight different days in August when four or more U.S. troops were killed. "As in any time when our operations are very proactive and going out after the terrorists groups, the insurgent groups, there is always the possibility that our casualties will go up," said Boylan. The insurgency rose up in 2003 after President Saddam Hussein was toppled. MILESTONE LOOMS In the nearly 2-1/2 years of the war, the average death toll for U.S. troops has been 2.1 per day. If that pace continues, the U.S. death toll would reach 2,000 in late October. U.S. military deaths still remain far below the total and rate of the Vietnam War, in which 58,000 U.S. troops died. The number of U.S. military deaths is dwarfed by Iraqi civilian deaths. U.S. military deaths in Iraq dropped after the January 30 elections, and the March toll of 36 was one of the war's lowest. But insurgent attacks surged again in late April when a new Iraqi government was being formed. Eighty U.S. troops were killed in May. The toll dipped in both June and July before rising again in August. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has forecast that rebel violence will increase ahead of the planned October 15 national referendum on a draft constitution and elections two months later for a new government if voters endorse the document. Boylan said, "As we get closer to the referendum, just as we saw at the beginning of the year going toward the (January 30) election, it's always expected that they (insurgents) will increase their activities to try to cause intimidation and fear in those who would go out to vote." The United States has about 140,000 troops in Iraq. Rumsfeld has said the Pentagon likely will order a temporary increase in forces in Iraq to provide extra security for the referendum. The highest monthly U.S. death toll of the war came last November when 137 soldiers were killed, many during an offensive to crush rebels in Falluja. Nearly 200 British and other foreign troops also have died in the war.