The monthly toll of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq is on track to being the lowest in nearly two years, with at least 36 troop deaths recorded as of Tuesday, but the military cautioned it's too early to declare a long-term trend.
BAGHDAD, Oct. 30 -- The Iraqi cabinet approved draft legislation Tuesday that would repeal a law granting immunity to foreign security firms working in Iraq.
WASHINGTON— The U.S. and Iraqi governments have failed to take advantage of a dramatic drop in violence in Iraq, according to a report issued Tuesday by a U.S. watchdog agency, which warned that prospects were waning "for achieving current U.S. security, political and economic goals in Iraq."
As of Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007, at least 3,842 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 3,129 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Attacks by insurgents and other fighters in Iraq against U.S. troops, Iraqi forces and civilians dropped sharply in September to their lowest level since early 2006, continuing a decline in violence since June, according to a new Government Accountability Office report released yesterday.
The Pentagon and U.S. State Department have agreed to tighten rules governing private security contractors in Iraq, giving a greater oversight role to the U.S. military, officials said on Tuesday.
The monthly toll of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq is on track to being the lowest in nearly two years, with at least 37 troop deaths recorded as of Tuesday, but the military cautioned it's too early to declare a long-term trend. Iraqi civilians, meanwhile, faced more attacks on Tuesday.
CAMP VICTORY, IRAQ— U.S. troops in Iraq, facing the stress of multiple, extended combat tours, are increasingly willing to seek mental health counseling while they're in the field, according to military medical experts.
CAMP VICTORY, Iraq— High blood pressure, bad backs, bum knees and other mundane health problems put three and a half times more troops on planes to hospitals in Germany or the United States than do snipers and roadside bombs, say front-line experts in Iraq.
Iraq's cabinet approved a draft law on Tuesday that would end the immunity from prosecution of foreign security contractors by scrapping a decree that Iraqis have complained amounts to a "license to kill."