U.S. Losses in Iraq Hit New Milestone

The military may be honing a new strategy, but meanwhile, 13 U.S. soldiers were killed in Baghdad since Monday, the highest three-day toll since the war’s start. The number of planted bombs is “at an all-time high,” says a military spokesman.

Washington Post:

BAGHDAD, Oct. 4—Thirteen U.S. soldiers have been killed in Baghdad since Monday, the American military reported, registering the highest three-day death toll for U.S. forces in the capital since the start of the war.

The latest losses—four soldiers who were killed at 9 a.m. Wednesday by small-arms fire—are part of a recent spike in violent attacks against U.S. forces that have claimed the lives of at least 24 soldiers and Marines in Iraq since Saturday, the military said.

The number of planted bombs is “at an all-time high,” said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, a military spokesman, defying American efforts to stanch the vicious sectarian bloodshed in Baghdad that threatens to plunge the country into civil war.

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