American death toll in Iraq is lowest in months

BAGHDAD -- The deaths of 76 U.S. troops in July was one of the lowest 30-day tolls in months, the U.S. military reported Tuesday, even as the admiral named to be the country's top military leader predicted the United States will be in Iraq for "years, not months," and another Pentagon official said the war was costing even more than expected.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded Tuesday by a sophisticated armor-piercing bomb in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said today.

The U.S. military said Tuesday a Marine died Monday in Anbar province west of Baghdad, bringing to 3,655 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq. Meanwhile, reported Iraqi deaths rose 23 percent in the month of July over June, with at least 2,024 civilians, government officials and security forces killed.

U.S. deaths had spiked in recent months as the military fanned out into insurgent strongholds under President Bush's buildup of 28,500 more troops to help reduce sectarian violence so that Iraqi leaders could find a political settlement.

"We're chasing them to areas where they're not so well-prepared and they don't have time to prepare, so chances are we will have fewer casualties," a senior U.S. military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment.

But Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, testifying in Congress at his confirmation hearing as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was quick to dash notions of a fast pullout because of the downturn in U.S. deaths.

He told Congress that under one scenario it could take three to four years just to halve the 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, although he did not expect the U.S. presence to be permanent. Many Democrats want to pull out combat troops by April.

"I do think we will be there for years, not months," Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "But I don't see it [Iraq] as a permanent -- you know, on a permanent base at this point."

Mullen's comments were echoed Tuesday by the commander of the U.S. military in Iraq, who said American forces would be needed for a few more years to stave off chaos.

"We think that based on the campaign plan that we need forces here for a few more years," Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno told the Los Angeles Times.

Mullen, 60, now chief of naval operations, was nominated last month after the Bush administration decided against seeking a second two-year term in the job for Marine Gen. Peter Pace. Defense Secretary Robert Gates worried that Pace's role in the unpopular Iraq war would lead to contentious hearings to reconfirm him.

Mullen appeared headed for approval.

Also Tuesday, in testimony to the House Budget Committee, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said next year's war tab will exceed the administration's existing request for $141.7 billion.

That's on top of over $600 billion in war checks already written for Iraq and Afghanistan, with 70 percent for Iraq.

Besides needing more money for mine-resistant vehicles to repel insurgent attacks, England said Bush's request did not include next year's costs for the extra U.S. troops sent into combat this year.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office provided an analysis for long-term war costs. It estimated that if troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were reduced to 75,000 over the next five years and stayed at that level through 2017, it would cost the U.S. $845 billion over the 10-year period.

"We don't have that sort of assumption," England said of the 75,000-troop estimate. He did not give any estimate of how large a U.S. force would be over the next 10 years.

The Defense Department, meanwhile, announced Tuesday that nearly 20,000 U.S. troops based in the United States will begin leaving for Iraq in December for a regular rotation of combat forces.

The incoming units from the Army and Marine Corps are not part of the U.S. troop buildup completed in June, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

Mullen said Bush's troop buildup brought more stability to Iraq, but that there had not been much political progress.

"Based on the ... lack of political reconciliation at the government level, obviously ... I would be concerned about whether we'd be winning or not," he said.

Ultimately "no amount of troops" could solve Iraqi political problems, Mullen acknowledged, but he said any changes in strategic decisions should wait until U.S. Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus report in September on the current strategy's progress.

In a preliminary assessment two weeks ago, the White House reported some military successes but noted Iraqi political leaders had failed to enact laws aimed at reconciling warring communities.

Iraq's parliament left Monday for a break until Sept. 4, leaving little time before Petraeus and Crocker must present their progress report to Congress.

Ordinary Iraqis expressed frustration with the stalled political process, days after an ethnically and religiously mixed Iraqi soccer team defied the odds to win the Asia Cup, prompting nationwide celebrations unseen since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

"The people in government should just leave their offices and let the soccer team rule," said 36-year-old Abu Mufeed.

Compiled from The Associated Press, Reuters and Los Angeles Times