US Military Deaths Down Since Surge

Who would have thought? And its reported by the AP:

At least 81 American service members also died in Iraq during
August — an increase of two over the previous month but well below the year's
monthly high of 126 in May. American deaths surpassed the 80 mark during only
two months of 2006.
U.S. military officials have insisted that the security
plan launched early this year have brought a decrease in attacks on civilians
and sectarian killings, especially in the Baghdad area, which was the focus of
the new strategy.

There's not much to insist. May was the month before major combat operations got underway, while we were still building up. The Surge really didn't start until June or July.

More-True to form the AP started the article with bad news on the civilian front, but this chart by John Wixted reveals even these figures look better compared to earlier in the year.