Final six months of 2004 deadliest ever for US forces in Iraq

Yahoo! News - Final six months of 2004 deadliest ever for US forces in Iraq:

As millions have been affected, hundreds of thousands wounded, and more than 125,000 killed, it is not easy to comprehend the tragedy of the Indian Ocean tsunamis that plunged several Asian countries into social and economic devastation. At times like this, other news stories, other events, other tragedies in the lives of human beings around the world threaten to sink "below the radar" of mass consciousness.

I don't mean to be cynical, or disrespectful of human grief, or gratuitously negative, but important stories which affect both Americans and citizens of other countries continue to unfold as we focus (understandably) on the plight of millions of Asians. We can't allow our grief and concern to allow us to forget about them. As the spotlight of world attention turns necessarily to the natural disasters in Asia, we can't allow ourselves to remain IN THE DARK about the political and military disaster in Iraq.

The last half of 2004 saw more American GIs killed and wounded than during any other six month period since the "coalition" invasion nearly two years ago. As deadly attacks increased on US and "coalition" forces, they also increased on Iraqi security, police and army forces. This is important to note: the "insurgents" have become more effective--much more effective--than the Bush administration ever imagined, fighting successfully against both "coalition" and Iraqi forces.

"The deadliest month was November when 141 troops were killed, reflecting the heavy combat in the Sunni Muslim bastion of Fallujah where US troops battled rebels in the street in some of the heaviest fighting ever in Iraq. "