US death toll in Iraq at two-year high
US death toll in Iraq at two-year high
By Steve Negus, Iraq Correspondent and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 29 2007 20:23 | Last updated: May 29 2007 20:23
A series of fatalities announced on Tuesday in Iraq saw the US military’s death toll rise to its highest monthly level in more than two years.
The US army reported that eight troops died in roadside bombings and a helicopter crash, bringing total fatalities so far for May to 112, a level not seen since the insurgency took hold in November 2004. The spike in violence follows another bloody month in April, when 104 US troops were killed.
The deaths, which came as Americans celebrated the Memorial Day military remembrance holiday, were announced amid a surge of violence in the capital, where 40 Iraqis were killed in two car bombings. In another sign of the deteriorating security situation, the UK government confirmed that five Britons had been kidnapped in Baghdad by gunmen who raided a finance ministry building.
President George W. Bush recently warned that the US death toll would rise as American troops stepped up patrols in Iraq as part of the military “surge”. In a Memorial Day speech on Monday, Mr Bush said Americans had a duty to ensure that the “outcome [of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan] justifies the sacrifices made by those who fought and died in it”.
But Mr Bush is facing growing opposition from politicians, including an increasingly nervous Republican caucus, and the public.
The latest CBS/New York Times poll found that 72 per cent disapproved of the way Mr Bush was handling the war in Iraq. Fifty per cent believed the surge was having no impact, while 26 per cent thought it was making the situation worse. Sixty-three per cent said the US should set a timetable to withdraw troops some time next year.
According to the Pentagon, the number of US military fatalities in Iraq is approaching 3,500, while more than 25,000 troops have been wounded.
Michael O’Hanlon, a defence expert at the Brookings Institution, said the higher troop fatalities were only partly owing to the increased patrols US soldiers were undertaking. He said another significant cause of the violence was retaliation by Shia militias against US and Iraqi forces. He added that a key test would be whether the crackdown on militias produced a security pay-off or helped the extremist groups recruit more members.
Multiple deaths of US military personnel had been relatively rare, but have become increasingly common in the strife-torn mixed Sunni-Shia province of Diyala. Over the past year, Iraqi insurgents appear to have learnt how to launch more effective attacks on US vehicles, using ever-larger quantities of explosives that can kill or injure even if the armour is not penetrated.
The car bombs that killed some 40 Iraqis took place outside a Shia mosque in a central square of the capital. This month had seen a downturn in car bomb attacks on civilian targets, most of which were believed to be the work of Sunni radical groups, and which US officials say fuel a cycle of sectarian violence.
The Canadian-based security firm GardaWorld confirmed that the four British security guards kidnapped in Baghdad were its employees, Reuters news agency reported.
“GardaWorld confirms that a client and four of its security professionals working in Baghdad were forcibly taken from a worksite this morning,” the company said in a statement.
The statement said the four security personnel were British citizens. The names of the captives were being withheld while their families were being informed
By Steve Negus, Iraq Correspondent and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 29 2007 20:23 | Last updated: May 29 2007 20:23
A series of fatalities announced on Tuesday in Iraq saw the US military’s death toll rise to its highest monthly level in more than two years.
The US army reported that eight troops died in roadside bombings and a helicopter crash, bringing total fatalities so far for May to 112, a level not seen since the insurgency took hold in November 2004. The spike in violence follows another bloody month in April, when 104 US troops were killed.
The deaths, which came as Americans celebrated the Memorial Day military remembrance holiday, were announced amid a surge of violence in the capital, where 40 Iraqis were killed in two car bombings. In another sign of the deteriorating security situation, the UK government confirmed that five Britons had been kidnapped in Baghdad by gunmen who raided a finance ministry building.
President George W. Bush recently warned that the US death toll would rise as American troops stepped up patrols in Iraq as part of the military “surge”. In a Memorial Day speech on Monday, Mr Bush said Americans had a duty to ensure that the “outcome [of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan] justifies the sacrifices made by those who fought and died in it”.
But Mr Bush is facing growing opposition from politicians, including an increasingly nervous Republican caucus, and the public.
The latest CBS/New York Times poll found that 72 per cent disapproved of the way Mr Bush was handling the war in Iraq. Fifty per cent believed the surge was having no impact, while 26 per cent thought it was making the situation worse. Sixty-three per cent said the US should set a timetable to withdraw troops some time next year.
According to the Pentagon, the number of US military fatalities in Iraq is approaching 3,500, while more than 25,000 troops have been wounded.
Michael O’Hanlon, a defence expert at the Brookings Institution, said the higher troop fatalities were only partly owing to the increased patrols US soldiers were undertaking. He said another significant cause of the violence was retaliation by Shia militias against US and Iraqi forces. He added that a key test would be whether the crackdown on militias produced a security pay-off or helped the extremist groups recruit more members.
Multiple deaths of US military personnel had been relatively rare, but have become increasingly common in the strife-torn mixed Sunni-Shia province of Diyala. Over the past year, Iraqi insurgents appear to have learnt how to launch more effective attacks on US vehicles, using ever-larger quantities of explosives that can kill or injure even if the armour is not penetrated.
The car bombs that killed some 40 Iraqis took place outside a Shia mosque in a central square of the capital. This month had seen a downturn in car bomb attacks on civilian targets, most of which were believed to be the work of Sunni radical groups, and which US officials say fuel a cycle of sectarian violence.
The Canadian-based security firm GardaWorld confirmed that the four British security guards kidnapped in Baghdad were its employees, Reuters news agency reported.
“GardaWorld confirms that a client and four of its security professionals working in Baghdad were forcibly taken from a worksite this morning,” the company said in a statement.
The statement said the four security personnel were British citizens. The names of the captives were being withheld while their families were being informed
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