[Shadow_Group] U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Nears Record

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

No matter how ill-advised a war this was which
diverted our attention from the "real" war on terror,
I wish ALL our soldiers a hug and health and safety
and love and more thanx than I could say or type and
many many more hugs and if you know anyone there would
you please send them my love and hugs also along with
yours...
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U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Nears Record 
25 minutes ago   Middle East - AP 
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 

FROM: 
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military death toll in Iraq rose
by at least three Monday and the November total is
approaching the highest for any month since the
American-led invasion was launched in March 2003. 

At least 133 U.S. troops have died in Iraq so far this
month - only the second time it has topped 100 in any
month. The deadliest month was last April when 135
U.S. troops died as the insurgency flared in
Sunni-dominated Fallujah, where dozens of U.S. troops
died this month. 

The Pentagon's official death toll for Iraq stood at
1,251 on Monday, but that did not include two soldiers
killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and another
killed in a vehicle accident. When the month began,
the death toll stood at 1,121, the Pentagon said. 

It was not clear whether the bombing deaths of two
Marines south of Baghdad on Sunday were included in
the overall count the Pentagon published Monday. 

Also Monday, Osama bin Laden's top deputy vowed in a
videotape aired Monday to keep fighting the United
States until Washington changed its policies. 

In a brief excerpt broadcast on Al-Jazeera television,
Ayman al-Zawahri said Americans "have to choose
between one of two methods to deal with Muslims:
either on mutual respect and exchange of interests, or
to deal with them as if they are spoils of war." He
added, "You have to realize that we are a nation of
patience and endurance. We will stand firm to fight
you with God's help until doomsday." 

One factor that drove up combat casualties was fierce
fighting in Fallujah. Combat injuries also have
increased this month due to the Fallujah battle.
Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington reported
Monday that it received 32 additional battle
casualties from Iraq over the past two weeks. One was
in critical condition. All 32 had been treated earlier
at the Army's main hospital in Europe, Landstuhl
Regional Medical Center. 

Some of the most severe injuries - and many of the
deaths - among U.S. troops in Iraq are inflicted by
the insurgents' homemade bombs, which the military
calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. 

U.S. forces have put extraordinary effort into
countering the IED threat, yet it persists. U.S.
troops in Fallujah reported finding nearly as many
homemade explosives over the past three weeks as had
been uncovered throughout Iraq in the previous four
months combined. 

In recent action in Fallujah, troops found at least
650 homemade bombs, Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said Monday.
That compares with 722 found throughout the country
between July 1 and October 31. 

The IEDs are rigged to detonate by remote control and
often are hidden along roadways used by U.S. forces,
to deadly effect. 

Since U.S. forces invaded Fallujah on Nov. 8 to regain
control from insurgents, they have found about a dozen
IED "factories," a number of vehicles being modified
to serve as car bombs, and at least 10 surface-to-air
missiles capable of downing aircraft, Whitman said. 

More than half of the approximately 100 mosques in
Fallujah were used as fighting positions or weapon
storage sites, Whitman said, citing a U.S. military
report that has not been released publicly. 

U.S. officials knew insurgents had used Fallujah as a
haven from which to plan and organize resources for
attacks in Baghdad and other cities in the so-called
Sunni Triangle north and west of the capital, but the
amount of weapons found exceeded expectations. 

Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference last Tuesday
that the kinds and amount of weapons found in Fallujah
indicated the insurgents pose a serious and continuing
threat. 

"No doubt attacks will continue in the weeks and
months ahead, and perhaps intensify as the Iraqi
election approaches," Rumsfeld said, referring to
national elections scheduled for Jan. 30. 


Whitman said other discoveries in Fallujah include: 

_Plastic explosives and TNT. 

_A hand-held Global Positioning System receiver for
use in navigation. 

_Makeshift shoulder-fired rocket launchers,
rocket-propelled grenades, 122mm rockets and thousands
of mortar rounds. 

_An anti-aircraft artillery gun. 

_More than 200 major weapons storage areas. 

At the State Department, meanwhile, Secretary of State
Colin Powell told reporters Monday there is no reason
Iraq should not hold its Jan. 30 elections as
scheduled, despite the insurgency. 

"We are working hard on it," he said. 

The United Nations has increased its presence in the
country, thousands of Iraqis are working on
registration and "we are encouraging all parties to
participate in the political process, especially in
the Sunni heartland," Powell said. 

"An election is the way forward," Powell said. "It's
the means by which the Iraqi people can say to the
world, we want to live in democracy, we want to be
able to choose our leaders, and not let these
individuals who are using car bombs to murder innocent
people" be allowed to succeed. 
___ 
On the Net: 

Military casualty statistics at
http://web1.whs.osd.mil/mmid/casualty/castop.htm<http://web1.whs.osd.mil/mmid/casualty/castop.htm> 

The Defense Department at 
http://www.defenselink.mil<http://www.defenselink.mil/>






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