Tuesday, January 01, 2008

It's A New Year!


2007casualtynumbers
Originally uploaded by Randuwa
I hope that I am not being premature in this pronouncement. After some of the darkest days of the war on terrorism in Iraq, there is a shift in the US casualties that is as dramatic as it is long-desired.

The graph compares the months of the year 2007; and the colors compare each month to each other month like it since September of 2001. 2007 saw 6 months with the worst casualties during those months in the long prosecution of this conflict. 2 others were the second deadliest months. And then in September the trend began to move downward. October and Novembers shared a casualty count of 49 US troops each; and then December has ended with 28 deaths.

Clearly 28 too many, but when you look back to last December's 112 casualties, you can't help but be thankful for all of the possible men and women who could have joined their ill-fated comrades.

May this be the harbinger of better days for the Iraqi people, and the change on the ground that will finally permit a quick withdrawal from this nation by our occupying troops.

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