Baghdad, Iraq – At least 11 U.S. troops were killed during a 30-hour period ending Wednesday afternoon, putting October on track to be the deadliest for Americans in Iraq since U.S. Marines stormed insurgent-controlled Fallujah in November 2004.
A surge in attacks has claimed the lives of 70 troops so far this month and comes as a sharp rise in civil warfare between Iraq’s Shiite and Sunni sects has left hundreds dead over the past week, including at least 43 on Wednesday.
U.S. officials attributed the increased casualties to an expected increase in attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as well as to recently changed tactics by U.S. troops, who are flooding Baghdad neighborhoods in an attempt to stanch sectarian fighting.
The bulk of the deaths occurred in the capital, where seven troops died from roadside bombs and small-arms attacks. At least three of the slain soldiers were attached to Task Force Lightning, which was assigned to Fort Carson’s 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team.
President Bush acknowledged that the surge in violence in recent weeks could be the Iraqi equivalent of the Tet offensive, the pivotal Vietnam War battle begun in 1968 that helped turn U.S. popular opinion against the war and undermined support for President Lyndon Johnson.
Asked whether he agreed with a columnist who said that the fighting in Iraq mirrored Tet, Bush said that “could be right.”
“There’s certainly a stepped-up level of violence, and we’re heading into an election,” Bush said an interview with ABC News.
Bush also said that while he is adhering to his Iraq policies, he is troubled by Americans’ deaths.
“It breaks my heart, because behind every casualty is somebody with tears in their eyes,” he added. “Behind every casualty are families that will be mourning the loss of life for a lifetime.”
A Pew Research Center for the People & The Press poll published Oct. 5 showed that 58 percent of the public says the U.S. military effort in Iraq is not going well – up from 48 percent just a month ago and the highest negative rating recorded since the war began in 2003.
Pew’s survey found that 48 percent of the public said it is casting its votes for the House and the Senate on Nov. 7 as a way to vote against the president.
The latest casualties brought to at least 2,783 the number of U.S. military personnel killed so far in Iraq, according to a website that tracks deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, icasualties.org.
Attacks on U.S. forces have spiked as much as 20 percent in Iraq during Ramadan, which this year began in late September, officials in Washington said.
“Emotions are more intense,” said Thomas Donnelly, a military analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s a time to attempt dramatic things because people’s awareness is heightened.”
But defense officials and analysts added that the sharply higher October casualty rate also was due to U.S. troops’ increased exposure to fighting during campaigns in Ramadi and Baghdad.
U.S. forces continue to face a resilient Sunni Arab insurgency in such cities as Ramadi while struggling to stanch an outbreak of civil warfare between Shiites and Sunnis and keep in check Shiite-dominated security forces prone to abusing their power.
The threat of further escalation of warfare between Shiites and Sunnis in Balad, north of Baghdad, loomed as mortar rounds fired from Sunni areas again struck the Shiite city of 300,000 on Wednesday morning, said Iraqi police Brig. Gen. Nabil Baldawi. At least 80 Iraqis have died there since Friday.
In addition, the whereabouts of 13 carloads of Shiites abducted Monday night at an illegal checkpoint near Balad remained unknown, police said. Security officials reached by telephone estimated 40 people disappeared at the checkpoint but said they had found no bodies and received no demands for their release.
