Some good news from Iraq

James Forsyth 11:32pm

The military progress of the surge in Iraq continues to be encouraging. As The Washington Post notes today,

In September, Iraqi civilian deaths were down 52 percent from August and 77 percent from September 2006, according to the Web site icasualties.org. The Iraqi Health Ministry and the Associated Press reported similar results. U.S. soldiers killed in action numbered 43 -- down 43 percent from August and 64 percent from May, which had the highest monthly figure so far this year. The American combat death total was the lowest since July 2006 and was one of the five lowest monthly counts since the insurgency in Iraq took off in April 2004. 

During the first 12 days of October the death rates of Iraqis and Americans fell still further. So far during the Muslim month of Ramadan, which began Sept. 13 and ends this weekend, 36 U.S. soldiers have been reported as killed in hostile actions. That is remarkable given that the surge has deployed more American troops in more dangerous places and that in the past al-Qaeda has staged major offensives during Ramadan. Last year, at least 97 American troops died in combat during Ramadan.

A large part of the reason for the military success of the surge, to date, is the improvement in US tactics in dealing with the local population. Much of this improvement can be credited to David Kilcullen, an Australian military officer who transformed the Coalition’s approach to counter-insurgency. This presentation by him gives a fascinating insight into his thinking. It is well worth reading and shows why, as Matt reported back in August, Gordon Brown is so interested in Kilcullen’s ideas. It can only be good news that he is now, as David Ignatius reveals, going to work as a consultant for the State Department.