Bush And His Minions - Oblivious

It concerns me greatly to see the bold headline “American casualties plunge in Iraq” on the front page of the Sept. 2 (Kansas City) Star, with speculation that the troop surge may be working.

Taking the surge months June, July and August, records show 232 U.S. personnel died in combat compared with 158 for the same period last year, giving a higher death rate per 100,000 troops with the larger force.

Also, year-to-date numbers are 689 killed compared with 414 for the first eight months of 2006.

The only way to claim a dramatic improvement, such as the news writer contrived, is to compare an aberrational high May (123) with the slightly lower-than-usual month of August (59).

A broader evaluation of the www.icasualties.org records being used by Nancy Youssef would suggest that it is premature for McClatchy News Service to spread such optimism nationwide based on her selective data snapshot.

Robert K. Russell
Kansas City

The headline on the front page on Sunday was very misleading. It claimed a “plunge” in American combat causalities in Iraq and debated whether it was due to the “surge” in American soldiers or due to a tactical redeployment of insurgents. It was neither, because there has been no plunge in combat deaths.

The number of such deaths in August was virtually identical to the combat deaths in August 2006. And, in July, the number of combat deaths was 65 compared with only 40 in July 2006.

For every month in 2007, the number of American soldiers dying in Iraq was substantially greater than for the same month last year.

During the brutally hot summer, soldiers and insurgents alike move around a lot less in Iraq, and fewer die. Still, more Americans have died every month this year than last. There has been no plunge. Believing Americans are ignorant of the facts on the ground, President Bush continues to lie to the country in a desperate effort to keep this failed war going long enough to hand it to his successor, who can then be blamed for his failures.

Arthur Benson
Kansas City

http://blogs.kansascity.com/unfettered_letters/2007/09/casualties-in-i.html