[NYTr] US suffers deadliest year in Iraq

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[So much for the "surge."  Cole was right. -NYTr]


US suffers deadliest year in Iraq

Al Jazeera
November 6, 2007

The deaths of six more US troops have made 2007 the deadliest year for
American forces in Iraq, despite there being almost two months of it
left.

The US military said on Tuesday that the deaths took the total for 2007
to 853, the previous highest toll was 849 in 2004.

"We lost five soldiers yesterday in two unfortunate incidents. Both
involving IEDs [improvised explosive devices]. There is still much
danger out there," Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, US military spokesman,
said.

Another statement said a sailor had died after a blast in the Salaheddin
province.

The record was reached despite a significant drop in fatalities last
month.

Thirty-eight were reported in October, the lowest since March 2006.

Iranians 'to be released'

Separately, the US military official announced that nine Iranian held in
Iraq would be released after Tehran vowed to take measures to halt the
flow of arms to its neighbour.

"It is our intent to release nine Iranians currently in custody in the
near future. They will be released in the coming days," Smith said.

"Two of them were detained in Erbil in January of this year."

US forces say the five men seized in the northern city were held on
suspicion of being members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite
Qods force.

Iran has insisted that they are diplomats and has demanded their
release.

"These individuals have been assessed to be of no continuing value, nor
do they pose a further threat to Iraqi security," Smith said.

Hoshiyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, welcomed the announcement,
saying it was a confidence-building measure that would encourage more
productive talks between Iran, Iraq and the US.

"We have tried very hard with the American military and the embassy to
release them. We are very pleased now that a decision has been made," he
told the Reuters news agency.

Consulates opened

On Tuesday, Iran opened two consulates in Iraq, a facility in Erbil
that was shut by American forces after January's raid, and a second in
Sulaimaniya, the largest city in the Kurdish zone.

The Iranian ambassador used the occassion to condemn the US raid on the
building.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi said: "The American forces breached Iraqi
sovereignty by detaining the five Iranian diplomats at this same office
in Erbil.

"Iran has strong ties with Iraqi society and opening these consulates
will strengthen these ties. It will also strengthen commerce and travel
between the two sides."

Washington has accused Tehran of training Shia militias in Iraq and
supplying them with weapons including roadside bombs. Iran has rejected
the charge and blames the violence on the US-led invasion in 2003.

Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Iraq, has held three rounds of talks this
year with his Iranian counterpart on security in Iraq. On Saturday, he
said that he expected a further round of meetings in the next few weeks.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0C2E3C52-2144-471A-9DFC-CB499A228E87.
htm