Reprinted with permission from: AP, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Reuters

Several more U.S. soldiers were killed in an Iraqi province last week during an attack by insurgents. Military officials announced that these casualties bring this month's death toll to a large number, but not as large as it used to be.

"The sacrifice these soldiers made was pivotal to accomplishing the objective, which will lead to a draw-down of forces in Iraq," said one military analyst who wished to remain anonymous while leaking pre-approved sensitive information. "We can also confidently say that more than several soldiers would have died last week if it wasn't for the surge."

Intelligence officials confirmed that the soldiers died while fighting insurgents who are suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda or Iran. The fighting included several menacing acronyms (I.E.D, S.C.U.D., S.U.V) as well as projectile weapons.

The lieutenant colonel in charge of the soldiers' battalion expressed his sadness upon hearing the news. "Those were some of our bravest men and women," the lieutenant colonel said, "I will miss them greatly. It feels like they arrived only a few days before and....oh, they did?"

One of the fallen soldiers came from a rural town in the Western Hemisphere after dropping out of high school to serve his country and/or fries. He left behind a family of four, not including a golden retriever. Another fallen soldier was a women, which is considered a large accomplishment in the military.

"This is yet another sign that we must pull out of Iraq," one Democratic congressman said, "the families of these troops won't be consoled by some memorial or the knowledge that their loved one's death is being used for political maneuvers; they just want their boys back. We have to listen to the American people."

"We cannot let the deaths of these brave Americans go to waste," a Republican senator responded, "we need to decrease the number of brave Americans in America and increase the number of brave Americans in the Middle East. When this happens, you won't see funerals for brave Americans such as the several soldiers who died last week. Granted, you won't see it because we will bus every brave man, woman and child into Iraq other than brave American journalists or television crews."

Memorial services will be held for the soldiers in various cemeteries in and around the United States within the next few months.