And Meanwhile, Back in Iraq

Blast Kills 7 U.S. Marines, 3 Iraqi National Guard

A car bomb blast near the rebel-held Iraqi city of Falluja on Monday killed seven American marines and three Iraqi National Guardsmen, the U.S. military said

And try to tell their families that we've turned the corner in Iraq.

It was the largest U.S. death toll from a single attack for five months, and raises the number of U.S. troops killed in action in Iraq since the start of the war to at least 739.


The total official Pentagon death toll for U.S. personnel in Iraq has now reached at least 985 -- just 15 short of 1,000.

And Juan Cole Reports:

Around 1100 US troops were wounded in Iraq in August, the highest one-month total so far. The injuries came because the US was actively fighting "in four cities" according to a US military spokesman (Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra, and Najaf). Actually it was much more than that. There was also fighting in August in Sadr City and some southern cities. This finding underscores the point I made on Saturday, which is that the period since March 19 should properly be seen as an ongoing war.

Boy, think about how bad it would be if we weren't winning. The "decisive leadership" of GWB has created a quagmire in the sand. Wake up folks, Pat Buchanan is right.

.....I think I would execute a strategic withdrawal from Iraq. I think it was a terrible mistake. We're going to pay consequences one way or the other. And my feeling is probably it would be better for us in the long run if we withdrew.