The U.S. has marked its first fatality-free month in Iraq since the beginning of its 2003 invasion. Army officials credit the change—a sharp contrast to June, which was the deadliest month in two years—to the Iraqi government’s new offensive against Shiite militias as well as U.S. strikes. Unfortunately, August also went down as the deadliest month on record for the U.S. in the war in Afghanistan.
