U.S. Deaths in Iraq Decrease, Deaths in Afghanistan Increase

The number of U.S. military fatalities in Iraq in 2008 fell two-thirds compared to the previous year, according to an American Forces Press Service article.

Last year's casualty figure -- 314 -- marks a sharp reduction from 2007 when 904 troops died. The 2008 tally comes on the heels of a week in which the number of daily attacks in Iraq dropped nearly 95 percent compared to the same time last year. Overall violence in Iraq has fallen some 80 percent since the surge of 33,000 U.S. forces began in January 2007. Meanwhile, according to an Army Times article, the US Military suffered 151 deaths in Afghanistan during 2008, the deadliest year yet in the seven-year war.