Wire: Surge Success, December 1st Month Without US Combat Deaths in Iraq

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2010 -- Newswire services this morning reported that December was the first month since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq nearly seven years ago in which no U.S. forces died in combat in the country.

However, three U.S. troops died in December as a result of non-combat related incidents in Iraq.

According to an Associated Press count, 149 U.S. troops died in Iraq in 2009. That includes combat-related deaths and those not related to fighting.

That's the lowest number of U.S. deaths for a year since the Iraq war began in 2003.

(Report from newswire sources.)