Iraqi casualties up again in March

According to figures released by Iraqi ministries, violent deaths toll in Iraq peaked to its highest level since August 2007, to 1,082. Among them, 925 civilians, 103 policemen and 54 soldiers. Meanwhile, the coalition suffered 38 losses during that month, a stable figure since October 2007.

This month may mark a stop in the improvement of the security situation since last summer, when the surge began, simultaneously with a ceasefire declared by Moqtada as-Sadr and the increase in the use of ‘Sons of Iraq’ sunni militiamen.

The recent improvement is not likely to last if the tensions persists between Sadr’s followers and the Iraqi security forces.

The US strategy appears clearly : to reduce as much as possible the exposure of the troops (during my last trip to Iraq, I could see that they prefer sometimes not to hold the field rather than being exposed), and look always for the easy short term solutions. The use of militias is one of them.