U.S. Deaths Near Lowest Level Of 5-Year Iraq War

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From 'USA Today': This May has been one of the least violent months of the Iraq war. Eighteen U.S. servicemembers have been identified as having died in Iraq so far in May, according to the Pentagon. To date, the least deadly month of the five-year war was February 2004, when 21 U.S. troops were killed in a 29-day period. The number of wounded also has fallen. Overall, militant attacks in Iraq have dropped to levels not seen since spring 2004, U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll said this week. Attacks are down 70% since President Bush ordered a U.S. troop increase, or "surge," early last year.

Al-Sadr agreed to a truce this month after two months of clashes with U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces. The fighting followed an Iraqi government decision to rein in al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and other Shiite militants. Iraqi forces have also stepped up the offensive against Sunni militants, including al-Qaeda, in the northern city of Mosul. "We're seeing progress because we're getting more capability out of the Iraqi security forces," said Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq.

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, who has been guarded in making proclamations of success, said last week that al-Qaeda in Iraq has "never been closer to defeat than they are now." CIA Director Michael Hayden, speaking to 'The Washington Post', cited gains against the group: "Near strategic defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Near strategic defeat for al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. Significant setbacks for al-Qaeda globally."

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani also has sounded an upbeat tone. Talabani criticized Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Babakir Zebari for saying his forces would not be ready to handle security on their own for four years. Instead, Talabani predicted last week that Iraqi military forces would be able to maintain control of the country by year's end. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a United Nations conference in Sweden on Thursday that "Iraq has achieved major success in the battle against terrorism."

The U.S. death toll for May marks a dramatic decline from 126 deaths in May 2007, when U.S. forces were battling for control of Baghdad. Injuries among U.S. troops also are at their lowest level this year. Thirty-one Americans were hurt in combat last week, the Pentagon said. That's down from a recent peak of 130 in a single week in March, at the height of the fighting against Shiite militants.

Fewer Iraqis are also dying. Seventy-eight people died in bombings across Iraq in April, the lowest level since November 2004, when 75 died, according to the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank that tracks the data. After five grim years, however, Iraqis are cautiously optimistic.