Suitably Flip

December 2007 Least Deadly Month In Iraq War

While the media is eagerly chalking up 2007 as the deadliest year for US troops since the start of the Iraq War (the tacit extension being that things are now as bad as or worse than they've ever been), there's far less focus on the fact that this month is on track to be least deadly since the war began.

With 21 reported US military deaths, troop fatalities averaged 0.68 per day in December 2007.  That's slightly better than February 2004, the next least deadly month, which saw 20 US fatalities (0.69 per day), and markedly better than last December, which saw the loss of 112 US troops (3.61 per day).

More notable is the rate at which troop fatalities have been falling since the surge was fully implemented.  Over the last 7 months, the average daily fatality rate has fallen 83% (from over 4 per day to less than 1).

Nor was December an anomaly.  The three-month period ended December 31, 2007 was also the least deadly three-month period since the start of the war, with US military fatalities averaging 1.0 per day, down 67% from the same period last year.

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December 2007 Least Deadly Month In Iraq War

While the media is eagerly chalking up 2007 as the deadliest year for US troops since the start of the Iraq War (the tacit extension being that things are now as bad as or worse than they've ever been), there's far less focus on the fact that this month is on track to be least deadly since the war began.

With 21 reported US military deaths, troop fatalities averaged 0.68 per day in December 2007.  That's slightly better than February 2004, the next least deadly month, which saw 20 US fatalities (0.69 per day), and markedly better than last December, which saw the loss of 112 US troops (3.61 per day).

More notable is the rate at which troop fatalities have been falling since the surge was fully implemented.  Over the last 7 months, the average daily fatality rate has fallen 83% (from over 4 per day to less than 1).

Nor was December an anomaly.  The three-month period ended December 31, 2007 was also the least deadly three-month period since the start of the war, with US military fatalities averaging 1.0 per day, down 67% from the same period last year.