In the Iraq war, November has been one of the more deadly months for U.S. troops. However, this November has been the quietest since the U.S.-led coalition ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003.
With two days of the month remaining, the number of Americans killed this November in defense of Iraq’s new democracy is 34. That’s about half the U.S. deaths of the previously least violent November.
[Update: The final total for the month appears to be 37, and let’s remember that these numbers represent people, usually young men, whose basic job was to protect the freedom of strangers. That the enemy would kill such selfless people shows all the more clearly why this war must be won.]
Here’s the record on post-invasion Novembers:
November 2003: 82.
November 2004: 137.
November 2005: 84.
November 2006: 70.
November 2007: 34. Update: 37.
Echoes of defeatism. In May of this year, 126 Americans were killed in Iraq as the “surge” was taking shape under U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus. For the U.S., it was the third deadliest month of the war. On May 27, as Petraeus urged patience and resolve, and promised a September progress report, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin said:
“Why wait until September? We’ve got men and women dying in Iraq right now. Why not make that change in course right now?”
Of course, Levin’s “change in course” was the cowardly course of retreat and surrender. He wanted to set an arbitrary date and leave. For the selfish haters of the Democratic Party, it was the politically popular course, even if it guaranteed renewed fascism, genocide and war in Iraq.
Sacrifices for freedom. Today, the torch of liberty glows much brighter in Iraq. GIs have risked everything, and thousands have given their lives for democracy and Iraq’s only real chance for a lasting peace. It appears our troops’ bravery and sacrifices have paid off.
Earlier this week, there was no fighting in Falluja, in Iraq’s formerly volatile Anbar Province.
Two days ago, a U.S. Marine lieutenant asked Michael Totten, a Falluja visitor, “How many people got shot at last night in New York City?”
“Probably somebody,” Totten said.
“Yeah, probably somebody did,” 1st Lt. Barry Edwards replied.
That night, no one was shot, and no one was shot at in Falluja.
New kind of calm. The Sunni Arab city still has its tensions and occasional violence, but it is settling into a calm not seen in years. For the first time, its calm is accompanied by liberty, the freedom to voice opinions and choose leaders, the right to due process under law.
The 407 Americans who died in Iraq these last five Novembers, the nearly 4,000 who died these last five years, and their hundreds of thousands of brothers in arms cleared the way for that new democratic atmosphere.
Let’s hope the progress sticks this time. Let’s hope the trend continues. Let’s hope the setbacks are few. It would be wonderful if next year we could see tens of thousands American troops come home victorious, “return on success” as President Bush put it.
Here’s hoping for a November in freedom and peace.
A note of caution: The death rate of American soldiers at war tells only part of the story. Iraqi deaths are down, too, but they still are dying by the hundreds each month. Further, history reveals that a period of relative calm toward the end of a war doesn’t mean it’s over or won. Remember World War II. It was real quiet before the Battle of the Bulge.