US Military Deaths in May in Iraq at All Time Low

The latest news coming from Iraq is very, very good. The monthly US military death toll for May 2008 was the lowest since the 2003 invasion. Additionally, Iraqi oil production set a post-war record during that same time period.

Rueters reports that May 2008 was the least deadly month in Iraq for US troops, since the war began in 2003. The United States lost 19 of its finest fighting men and women in May and while that is 19 too many, the record low number is encouraging. While military leaders are quick to stress that such improvements are frequently fragile and fleeting, Defense Secretary Robert Gates displayed guarded optimism as he spoke to reporters in Singapore: "We've still got a distance to go but I think lower casualty rates are a reflection of some real progress."... "The key will be to continue to sustain the progress we have seen." For detailed statistics on casualty data in Iraq, see Iraq Coalition Casualty Count website. Officials report that violence in general is at a four-year low. This is mostly attributed to intensified efforts to crack down on Shiite strongholds in the cities of Basra, Baghdad and Mosul. Iraqi civilian deaths also fell to 505 in May after setting a seven month high in April. Iraqi oil production also reached a milestone in May. Hussein al-Shahristani, the Iraqi Oil Minister, reported a post-war record high level of 2.5 million barrels per day. This was attributed to the much improved security, which is truly amazing for a country that was reported to be on the brink of civil war just 12 short months ago. Why was this fantastic news given so little coverage versus how much prime-time coverage was given to reporting bad news such as marking the death count as it broke 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and so on?