Benchmarks: Grim May for U.S. casualties

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- The news on U.S. casualties in Iraq was bad in April, but it got worse in May.

As of Wednesday, May 23, 3,424 U.S. troops had been killed in Iraq since the start of military operations to topple Saddam Hussein on March 19, 2003. Of these, 2,801 were killed in action, according to official figures issued by the U.S. Department of Defense.

In all, 82 U.S. soldiers were killed in the 23-day period from May 1 through May 23 -- an average rate of just over 3.5 per day. This was a more than 25 percent rise on the death rate during the previous 12-day period from April 19 through April 30 when 33 U.S. soldiers were killed at an average rate of 2.75 per day.

The latest figures for more than two-thirds of the month of May were also significantly worse than the 28-day period from March 22 to April 18 when 87 U.S. soldiers were killed at an average rate of just over 3.1 per day. They were also more than 16 percent worse than the 22-day period from Feb. 28 to March 21, when 67 U.S. soldiers were killed at an average rate of just over three per day.

The latest rates show that the "surge" strategy, while it has succeeded in suppressing much of the random killing by sectarian militias in Baghdad that preceded it, has clearly left U.S. troops in the Iraqi capital more exposed and vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Some 79 U.S. soldiers were killed in the 27-day period from Feb. 1 to Feb. 27 -- an average rate of just over 2.93 per day. Those figures were almost identical to the previous 27-day period when 78 U.S. troops were killed from Jan. 4 to Jan. 31 at an average rate of 2.81 per day.

The latest figures are also worse than the fatality rate of 3.4 killed per day during the 29-day period from Dec. 7 to Jan. 4, when 99 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq. They are more than 60 percent worse than the death rate during the 16-day period from Nov. 21 to Dec. 6, when 35 U.S. soldiers were killed at an average rate of just over 2.2 per day.

The latest figures are also worse than those for the 14-day period from Nov. 7 to Nov. 20, when 32 U.S. soldiers were killed at an average rate of just below 2.3 per day. And they are even worse than the 22-day period from Oct. 16 to Nov. 6, when 371 U.S. soldiers were killed at an average rate of just below 3.23 per day.

During the 18-day period from Sept. 28 to Oct. 15, 56 U.S. soldiers were killed at an average rate of just over 3.1 per day. That rate was identical to the one we reported Oct. 1 in these columns for the nine days from Sept. 19 to Sept. 27, when 28 U.S. soldiers were killed at an average rate of 3.1 per day. At that time, we noted that these figures were far higher than the rate during the previous 18-day period, when 33 U.S. soldiers were killed from Sept. 1 to Sept. 18, at an average rate of 1.77 per day. Those Sept. 19 to Oct. 15 figures were almost identical to the average rate per day of the past 50 days.

The current death rate of U.S. troops in Iraq is therefore worse for a sustained period of time than it has been for any comparable three-week period in at least the past two years.

As of Wednesday, 25,549 U.S. soldiers had been injured in Iraq since the start of military operations to topple Saddam. During the 23 days from May 1 through May 23, 637 U.S. soldiers were injured at an average rate of 27.7 per day.

This grim level rate of casualties suffered was more than twice as bad as during the previous 12 days from April 19 through April 30 when 148 U.S. troops were wounded at an average rate of 12.33 per day. And it was three times as bad as the 28-day period from March 22 through April 18 when 254 U.S. soldiers were injured at a rate of just over nine per day.

The latest figures were even worse than the rate of 23.2 wounded per day during the 22-day period from Feb. 28 to March 21. And they were more than 50 percent worse than the 27-day period from Feb. 1 to Feb. 27, when 398 U.S. soldiers were injured at an average rate of 16.9 per day. That figure was only marginally below the figures for the previous 27-day period from Jan. 4 to Jan. 31, when 465 U.S. soldiers were injured at an average rate of 17.2 per day.

From Oct. 16 to Nov. 6, 524 U.S. soldiers were injured in Iraq at an average rate of 23.81 per day. That rate of casualties suffered was virtually identical to the previous 18-day period from Sept. 28 to Oct. 15, when 427 U.S. soldiers were injured in Iraq at an average rate of 23.72 per day.

Those figures appeared particularly bad at the time, but they turned out to be only a short-term spike. However, the latest heavy level of casualty figures appear to reflect the continued increased exposure of U.S. forces made necessary by the "surge" strategy, coupled with the inability of the increased U.S. forces to inflict significant attrition on the Sunni insurgents who continue to target them.

The clear implication is that these increased rates of casualties may continue for some time.