US Casualties Mount.

American forces are coming under increased attack in Iraq as October turns out to be one of the worst months for US casualties during the war. The deaths of 13 US soldiers on Oct. 17-19 raised the US death toll for October to 73, putting the month on course to be the third worst for military fatalities since the March 2003 invasion. According to Pentagon figures, the US military lost 137 troops in November 2004 - the worst month so far in the war - and 135 in April 2004.

US military commanders have attributed the latest rise in military deaths to increased violence during the Muslim holy fasting month Ramadan in addition to US forces more actively engaging insurgent groups and sectarian death squads, particularly in Baghdad. The rise in US deaths comes as Republicans are under mounting pressure over the war, which has claimed the lives of almost 2,800 troops. Increased anxiety about Iraq has placed the Grand Old Party in jeopardy of losing control of one, or possibly both, houses of Congress.

Aside from deaths, the US has suffered more than 21,077 casualties in Iraq, with more than 9,500 of those troops injured so badly that they did not return to action. President George W. Bush has repeatedly argued that Iraq is making political progress and that the US will stay the course. But his administration is becoming increasingly frustrated at the apparent inability of the Iraqi government to stem the rise in bloodshed, particularly in Baghdad where up to 10,000 US troops are working with 44,000 Iraqi forces.

Senior Republicans have recently been more vocal in questioning the administration's strategy. Gen John Abizaid, the top US commander in the Middle East, in July told Congress reducing violence in Baghdad was key to avoiding civil war. But since his testimony, the number of military deaths in Iraq has greatly accelerated. General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, recently said sectarian violence was now the biggest problem in Iraq. He said coalition forces had reduced violence by about 50% in the 50 sectors of Baghdad which they had "cleared" with Iraqi forces. But in a sign of the difficulty in curbing the violence in Baghdad, he acknowledged that sectarian death squads remained active at night even in those areas.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who famously described the initial insurgency as a bunch of "dead-enders" and is coming under heavier criticism for his handling of the war, on Oct. 17 repeated his mantra that the war cannot be lost "militarily".

The US public is losing patience with Bush over the rising violence, which has prevented the Pentagon from reducing troop numbers from the current level of about 140,000 to 100,000 by the end of this year. A recent CNN poll found that 64% of respondents disapproved of the way Bush is handling the war, with 64% also opposing the war and 51% saying Democrats would do a better job of handling the war.

President Bush compared Iraq and the Vietnam war for the first time as he admitted that Thomas Friedman, a New York Times writer, "could be right" in saying the violence in Iraq was the "jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive". Bush told ABC News: "There is certainly a stepped-up level of violence and we're heading into an election". The Tet offensive helped turn US public opinion against the war, and led to President Lyndon Johnson deciding to abandon his re-election bid. A White House spokeswoman said Bush was only trying to make the point that "the enemy is trying to affect the psyche of Americans".

White House spokesman Tony Snow on Oct. 18 said the sudden surge in US troop deaths would not force President Bush to alter his war plans, adding: "No, his strategy is to win. The president understands not only the difficulty of it, but he grieves for the people who have served with valor. But as everybody says correctly, we've got to win. And that comes at a cost".

The Associated Press on Oct. 19 cited officials in Washington as saying the Marines planned to send back to Iraq at least some reserve combat battalions which had already served one tour there - the first time such units would be returned to the war. The plan, designed to relieve some of the growing strain on active-duty Marines, was approved by Rumsfeld on Oct. 17. The US army, organised differently from the Marine Corps, has not sent any of its National Guard combat brigades back to Iraq for a second tour. Both the Marines and army have sent reserve support units and active-duty forces to Iraq multiple times.

UK Army Chief Urges Pull-Out: Lt Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, chief of Britain's General Staff, has told The Daily Mail UK troops should be brought home from Iraq "soon", insisting their presence was "exacerbating" tensions and violence. He effectively accused PM Tony Blair and US President Bush of being "na?ve" in thinking Western forces could install a liberal democracy in Iraq.

Dannatt said the troops were resisted as invaders because they "effectively kicked the door in" when they arrived in Iraq. Dannatt - a committed Christian - offered his opinions on Islamic extremism in Britain - caused in part according to the general by Britain's current "moral and spiritual vacuum" - and the cultural primacy of "Judeo-Christian" tradition.

Gordon Brown, Blair's likely successor as PM in 2007, was luke-warm on the Iraq war and only supported the invasion publicly because he feared he would be sacked if he failed to back the war. By fighting two wars simultaneously, including Afghanistan, with what he thought were inadequate resources, Dannatt said there was real danger of losing both.