79 American Troops Die in September - 52 Iraqis Died Tuesday

"One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."
-George W. Bush talking to Katie Couric, CBS NEWS/Sept 7, 2006

In Iraq, "staying the course isn't good enough because a course has to have an end."
-Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking in Minneapolis yesterday

In the second month of a security crackdown in the capital, U.S. military casualties appear to be rising, even as deaths among Iraqi security forces have fallen, according to U.S. military sources and analysts.

The U.S. military on Tuesday revised its count of deaths in or near the capital Monday to eight--the highest daily toll in a month. In September, 79 troops died nationwide, about a third of them in Baghdad, according to the military.

U.S. officials and military experts caution that it is too soon to declare a trend, but they said the recent increases could be attributable to U.S. troops' greater exposure to combat since redeploying in early August from hardened bases to Baghdad's streets on a mission to stem sectarian bloodshed.