10 Americans Killed in Iraq

Even while we anxiously await November 7th and enjoy the chaos leading to election day, American Troops are still stuck in an intractable war. Reuters reports that ten of them were killed yesterday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military announced on Wednesday the deaths of 10 U.S. troops in Iraq on Tuesday, an unusually bloody day for American soldiers battling sectarian violence and a Sunni Arab insurgency.

[...]

At least 68 U.S. troops have been killed in October -- a pace, that if continues, would make it the deadliest month for U.S. forces since January 2005. At least 2,777 have died since the invasion in 2003.

After falling to 43 in July, the U.S. toll rose to 65 in August and to 71 in September. U.S. commanders, who have declared the fight for Baghdad the war's main effort, have conducted major security sweeps in the capital since August, massing neighborhoods with troops to flush out militants.

Icasualties.org reports that there were 776 Americans wounded in September. If the trends for fatalities holds for wounded, we're looking at more than 1,000 wounded Americans in October.

Bush's adventure in Iraq has become unsustainable. The Army is shouldering the majority of the work in this war. Because certain people were obsessed with a new 'light and flexible' force, the Army's effectiveness is being ground away.

James Baker is going to be releasing his report as soon as it won't be devastating to GOP election efforts. Hopefully it will advise some sort of withdrawal. Hopefully somebody in the Bush Administration will listen.

War in Iraq James Baker