source: http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL0434078820080601
U.S. troop deaths in Iraq fell to their lowest level last month since
the 2003 invasion and officials said on Sunday improved security also
helped the country boost oil production in May to a post-war high.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Iraq's oil minister credited
better security for the two milestones, which illustrated a dramatic
turnabout in the fortunes of a country on the brink of all-out
sectarian civil war just 12 months ago.
"We've still got a distance to go but I think lower casualty rates are
a reflection of some real progress," Gates told re****ters in
Singa****e. "The key will be to continue to sustain the progress we
have seen."
American generals have stressed that the security gains are both
fragile and reversible. That was shown in March, when an Iraqi
government offensive against ****'ite militias in southern Basra
sparked a surge in violence in the capital and other cities, catching
U.S. and Iraqi officials off guard.
The U.S. military said 19 soldiers died in May, the lowest monthly
death toll in a five-year-old war that has so far claimed the lives of
more than 4,000 American soldiers.
Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani told Reuters in an interview that
the improved security had helped Iraq, which has the world's third-
largest oil reserves, raise oil production to a post-war high of 2.5
million barrels per day in May.
Iraq's oil industry, hit by decades of sanctions, war and neglect, was
a vulnerable target for saboteurs after the U.S. invasion. Attacks on
pipelines quickly destroyed any hopes of using Iraq's vast oil
reserves to fund its reconstruction.
The military says violence in Iraq is now at a four-year low following
crackdowns by U.S. and Iraqi forces on ****'ite militias in southern
Basra and Baghdad and on al Qaeda in the northern city of Mosul, its
last major urban stronghold.
"In May we have exceeded for the first time a 2 million barrels per
day ex****t rate. In production we have exceeded 2.5 million bpd,"
Shahristani said.
The number of Iraqi civilians killed in May also fell, to 505, after
reaching a seven-month high of 968 in April, figures compiled by the
interior, defense and health ministries showed.
SUICIDE BOMBING
U.S. officials credit the turnaround in security to President George
W. Bush's decision to send 30,000 extra troops to Iraq, a rebellion by
Sunni tribal leaders against al Qaeda, and a ceasefire by anti-
American ****'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
But a suicide bombing in the town of Hit in western Anbar province on
Saturday night that killed the local police chief underscored the
fragility of Iraq's improved security.
Police said a suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint, killing
police chief Lieutenant-Colonel Khalil Ibrahim al-Jazzaa, eight other
policemen and four civilians.
In Iraq's more stable south, about 500 Australian troops pulled out of
their base in the city of Nassiriya, signaling an end to Australia's
combat mission in the country.
Australia, a close U.S. ally, was one of the first countries to commit
troops to the Iraq invasion, but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his
Labour party won election last November largely on Rudd's campaign
promise to bring the troops home this year.
The war is also a big issue in the U.S. presidential election, with
Republican nominee John McCain vowing not to withdraw troops until the
war is won, and his Democratic opponents Barack Obama and Hillary
Clinton promising to bring them home as soon as possible.
Baghdad and the United States are negotiating a new deal that will
provide a legal basis for U.S. troops in Iraq when their United
Nations mandate expires at the end of the year.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a rare statement on
the talks that they were at their early stages, but he acknowledged
there were differences between Iraq and the United States over what
should be included in the agreement.
"The Iraqi side has a vision and their draft differs from the American
side and their vision," he said.
The talks have angered many Iraqis who suspect the United States of
wanting to keep a permanent presence in Iraq, and on Friday thousands
of Iraqis answered a call by Moqtada al-Sadr to protest against the
negotiations.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki meanwhile asked France to supply
sophisticated weaponry during a visit by French Foreign Minister
Bernard Kouchner on Sunday.
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