"As CNN's Howard Kurtz accurately pointed out on Sunday's "Reliable Sources," few media outlets seemed at all interested in giving much attention to the great news out of Iraq last week regarding September's sharp decline in casualties," intones Noel Sheppard.
Yeah, funny about that...
U.S. and Civilian Deaths Decrease Sharply in Iraq
American Military Credits Troop InfluxWashington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, October 2, 2007; Page A14
BAGHDAD, Oct. 1 -- The numbers of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians reported killed across the country last month fell to their lowest levels in more than a year, a sharp decrease in violent deaths that American military officials attribute in part to the thousands of additional soldiers who have arrived here this year.
The death toll for Iraqi civilians fell sharply in September, according to Iraqi government and U.S. military figures. One count from Iraq's Health Ministry put the monthly death toll at 827 civilians, a 48 percent drop from the total in August, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the statistics.
The downward trend in victims of violence was mirrored by dropping fatalities among U.S. soldiers. By month's end, at least 66 U.S. soldiers were killed, the lowest monthly total since 65 died in August 2006, and about half the number who died during the deadliest month this year, according to icasualties.org, a Web site that tracks military deaths in Iraq.
Blame for this embarrassment can be doled out in equal portions: Howie Kurtz, for not reading his own goddamn paper; Newsbusters, for solidifying their reputation as second rate wankers who, from the looks of their shitty website, can't even land a Scaife sinecure; and Glenn Reynolds, for uncritically swallowing the whole load.
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