Iraq fatalities

(click for bigger image)

Some attention has been paid to the fact that the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq took a significant decline last month. My sense, however, is that the overall trend in Iraq has been improving for several month. The fact that U.S. troop fatalities are increasing or declining doesn't strike me as the most useful metric -- rather it should be examined in the context of overall troop levels. After all, it shouldn't be a huge surprise if troop deaths decline if there are fewer troops around and the reverse should also hold true.

With that in mind I created this chart this morning. Using source data from this Brookings Institution report I divided the number of U.S. hostile deaths by the number of troops stationed in Iraq for each month of this year. It produces an interesting trend.