Suddenly, CENTCOM (www.centcom.mil) isn't announcing any fatalities, when it has been an avg of 1.5/day.

The last reported US mil death in Iraq occurred on the 2nd September. It is now the 9th, so we have had a period of seven days without one.

Since May 1st, the longest death free periods have been four, each of three days duration. They were, according to CENTCOM:

1) 5-7 May. Ended on 8 May, when Pfc. Marlin T. Rockhold, 23, of Hamilton, Ohio, was killed whilst directing traffic when he was struck by a sniper's bullet.

2) 22-24 May. Ended on 25 May, when Pvt. David Evans, Jr., 18, of Buffalo, N.Y., was killed by exploding ordnance in Ad Diwaniyah.

3) 2-4 Aug. Ended on 5 Aug, when Pfc. Pablo Manzano, 19, of Heber, Calif., died as a result of a non-combat weapons discharge.

4) 15-17 Aug. Ended on 18 Aug, when Spc. Eric R. Hull, 23, of Uniontown, Pa., was killed when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.

What's going on with the Yanks then? Three hypotheses:

A. They're taking cas as normal, but they've decided not to report them anymore (not likely, because reporting from other sources would embarass them).

B. They're taking very much lower cas because Iraqi resistance has been wiped out or significantly reduced.

C. They're taking very much lower cas because they're hunkered down in their bases and are not conducting aggressive ops.

Personally, I favour 'C', because half their cas in the past have been from wpn and veh accidents, and you would expect these to continue during patrolling, even if the cas from en action ceased. The complete lack of casualties (like no-one has even drowned whilst taking a swim - this happened 3 x in the last few months, apparently!) suggests to me that the Americans are staying indoors and being very, very careful about their health (i.e. not running with scissors etc.).

Any thoughts?

Please forward to interested parties...