Bush Administration to Propose Expanded International Force in Iraq
U.S. troops certainly need the help. The violence in Iraq is everywhere.
The number of American dead in this war already exceeds the number killed in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The number of wounded in action is now more than twice as high.
More than 1,100 troops have been wounded in hostile action in this war, many seriously.
In August, on average, 10 American troops were wounded every day.
A security report just released by a British company said that many of the attacks "are not being reported at all by the forces involved" in a possible effort to downplay the dangers.
In one incident, two people working for the U.S.-led civilian administration in Baghdad were "shot and wounded in an assassination attempt" while leaving a restaurant in broad daylight.
"If we don't start to see an improvement in the overall situation by some time this fall, I believe it is very worrisome," said Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution. "Because then it suggests this resistance has a much deeper base than we first thought."
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