Monthly Death Toll Lowest Since 2004

The monthly death toll for American troops hit its lowest mark since 2004. As of Saturday, the death toll for American troops stood at 21, the lowest since February 2004, when 20 troops were killed. In the toll was a non-combat related death. The numbers appeared to support testimony from the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, who said that recent operations "contributed significantly to the reduction in violence." Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, spokesman for Multi-National Forces-Iraq, stated: "In the past week, security incidents decreased to levels we have not seen since March of 2004. These figures reflect a decrease in attacks of some 70 percent since the surge operations began in June of 2007."