By Akeem Mellis

Despite the nonstop barrage of one-sided reporting on the Iraq War by our national, mainstream media, it is a sad fact that too few Americans know of the progress that our American forces have made in trying to stabilize Iraq, especially in the past 10 months since President Bush’s surge plan went into effect.

While college students have had access to see the difference U.S. troops have made in the war-stricken country, it is consistently undermined by those individuals who repeatedly cite non-critical factors-State Department bureaucrats refusing to serve in Iraq for example-to downplay our successes there.

This includes the articles of one individual in particular on these Op-Ed pages. While I respect his viewpoint, only half the story has been told.

So, I will take it upon myself to tell the other half of the Iraq conflict.

Yes, it is true that more U.S. forces have died in Iraq this year than in any other since the war began. But what is not publicized is the fact that troop deaths have been on a sharp decline since the beginning of the year.

Figures for November revealed that combat deaths were cut in half compared to this time last year, with only 24 soldiers perishing.

Total casualties are down 45 percent, marking the sixth consecutive month of declining death tolls-and this was immediately after the final parts of the surge plan went into effect in May. October was just as successful, with a 66 percent drop in deaths compared to October of 2006.

Civilian deaths due to sectarian violence have been slashed by more than half as well, with the total number of individuals this year killed by insurgents down almost 60 percent, according to figures from the Iraq Health Ministry and the Pentagon.

Then there’s the icing on the cake: the bombshell revelation on the front page of The New York Times on Nov. 8 that Al-Qaeda of Mesopotamia, a key insurgent group in the country, was successfully driven out of Baghdad.

Even in Washington, Democrats who stridently oppose the war have conceded the obvious. “The surge is working,” Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) said on Nov. 29, after returning from a trip in Iraq. This surprising concession is a far cry from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s declaration in early April that “the war is lost.”

So, why have our forces, as well as Iraqi forces, turned the tide in Iraq? It’s simple. The surge, as well as significant changes in tactics, and the now strong anti-Al Qaeda resentment and anti-Iranian influence held by Sunnis and most Iraqis tired of the violence, have contributed.

It’s a shame there are still those who just don’t understand why we are doing this. But make no mistake: The goal of stabilizing Iraq and leaving behind a growing democracy is indeed within reach. We are making progress. Few can honestly call this a “gross exaggeration of the truth.”

Akeem Mellis is a sophomore print journalism and political science student. You may e-mail him at [email protected].