Troop Deaths In Iraq

Juan Cole gets fired up today when a brain-dead Bushies declares that American deaths are down in Iraq since the escalation:

Juan:

I saw on CNN this smarmy Bush administration official come and and say that US troop deaths had fallen because of the surge, which is why we should support it. Just read the following chart bottom to top and compare 2006 month by month to 2007. US troop deaths haven't fallen. They are way up. Besides, they would be zero if the US were not occupying Iraq militarily, so if we should support a policy that leads to fewer troop deaths, that is the better policy.

Here are the US troop death via Icasualties.org.

8-2007 77 8-2006 65
7-2007 79 7-2006 43
6-2007 101 6-2006 61
5-2007 126 5-2006 69
4-2007 104 4-2006 76
3-2007 81 3-2006 31
2-2007 81 2-2006 55
1-2007 83 1-2006 62

I mean, how brain dead do the Bushies think we are, peddling this horse manure that US troop deaths have fallen? (There are always seasonal variations because in the summer it is 120 F. in the shade and guerrillas are too heat-exhausted to fight; but the summer 2007 numbers are much greater than those for summer 2006; that isn't progress.) And why does our corporate media keep repeating this Goebbels-like propaganda? Do we really live in an Orwellian state?
...

Repeat: US troop deaths in Iraq have not fallen and that is not a reason to support the troop escalation. And, violence in Iraq has not fallen because of the surge. Violence is way up this year.

Of course Juan is exactly correct. But don't hold your breath waiting for a correction from the media or for anyone to confront this bullshit. And then there's the ever-present spin. If a Bushie acknowledges increased deaths they simply say that the escalation is working and the proof is that more Americans are fighting (and dying) to increase the security in Iraq. Afterall, they expected more casualties as they stepped up the security anti. Right?

Meanwhile, we have a sneak preview of the Petraeus report:

CANBERRA (Reuters) - The U.S. troop surge in Iraq has thrown al Qaeda off balance and led to a reduction in sectarian violence and bombings, the U.S. commander in Iraq [Petreaus] was quoted on Friday by an Australian newspaper as saying.

Sure, look at the above statistics and you can see things are going swimmingly. And note the al Qaeda reference. A very small faction that will be getting a whole lot of press in his report to Congress .... I gurroontee it.

Update: Thanks to Kevin Drum, we have a nice visual of the "decline" in American deaths:

They lie as easily as they breath