2007 Deadliest Year For U.S. Troops In Iraq

Four years and eight months after the mission was accomplished in Iraq, 2007 ends as:

...the deadliest for the U.S. military since the 2003 invasion, with 899 troops killed.

But apparently this is good news, since fatalities have decreased in recent months, with only 21 U.S. troops and 710 Iraqi civilians killed in December.  This brings the total U.S. fatalities for Bush's fiasco to 3,902. And the Iraqis, now that someone has decided to count their deaths?    

For the year, 18,610 Iraqis were killed. In 2006, the only other full year an AP count has been tallied, 13,813 civilians were killed.

It's not quite clear how you can have nearly 5,000 more deaths this year than last, while:

Iraqi civilian deaths have tracked that decline and overall violence across the country is down roughly 60 percent...

...but who are we to argue with success?  

And while crediting George Bush's escalation of troops for all of this progress, the article fails to mention that the stated purpose of his, "surge," has failed, with the political benchmarks, once vital for success in Iraq, long forgotten.  But if we keep our fingers crossed, and if three former and current declared enemies of the United States cooperate, 2008 can be just as successful.  All we need is for Muqtada al-Sadr to continue to rein in his 10,000 strong Mahdi Army, for Iran to continue to lessen their aid to Shiite extremists, and for 56,000 former Sunni insurgents to find a job.  

Of the more than 70,000 fighters in the awakening councils, only 20 percent are expected to be absorbed into the Iraqi security forces. The rest are to receive job training through a joint $300 million program Iraqi and American officials are creating.

That program is in its beginning stages and there are few details about how it will be carried out, but analysts say it must succeed or the Sunni fighters who do not join Iraq's military may sell their services to the insurgents.

They're now in the process of creating a plan that, "must succeed"?  Shades of the Bush administration's plans for postwar Iraq.  

You can almost taste victory, can't you?