By Andrew L. Jaffee

The number of American troops and Iraqi civilians killed in the war fell in September to levels not seen in more than a year. The U.S. military said the lower count was at least partly a result of new strategies and 30,000 additional U.S. forces deployed this year. …

More dramatic, however, was the decline in Iraqi civilian, police and military deaths. The figure was 988 in September — 50 percent lower than the previous month and the lowest tally since June 2006, when 847 Iraqis died. …

- AP, 10/1/07

Despite the constant bad news, there have been indications that the troop surge is helping to stabilize Iraq. But politicians like Joe Biden haven’t let facts get in the way. He’s thrown gasoline on the fire, suggesting Iraq be Balkanized into Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni regions. Even the top Democratic contenders for the 2008 presidential race have “conceded [that] they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013,” affirming how important Iraq’s stability is to the American people. Biden is already back-peddling:

…In Washington, Senator Joseph Biden issued a statement clarifying what he said were misconceptions about a nonbinding Senate resolution that passed last week under his cosponsorship. …