UPDATE, Oct. 1, 11:25 p.m.: The final number for deaths from hostile action came in at 8, which ties the previous lows of July 2008 and April 2003.

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This item will likely not make an Old Media splash, because overall US troop deaths in Iraq in September will be higher they were in July and August. But they're probably not interested anyway.

To be sure, it would be ideal to note that no US soldiers have died.

Nonetheless, with eight hours remaining until the month ends in Iraq, in what would seem to be strong evidence that the gains from the 2007-2008 troop surge are holding, it is good to note that September US troop deaths from hostile action are at an all-time low (Source: icasualties.org; select "Hostile" in the drop-down bar to replicate):

Unfortunately, deaths not related to hostilities, at 17, are up compared to previous months.

September's hostile death result, if it holds, caps a quarter of remarkable improvement. The quarter that is about to end will, without a doubt, show the lowest death toll from hostile action ever -- by far (UPDATE, Oct. 1, 11:25 p.m.: The final number for deaths from hostile action came in at 8, causes the three-month total to be 28, still by far an all-time low):

With the financial industry bailout dominating news coverage, I suspect that the improvements just noted will be downplayed or ignored. They probably would be anyway, given Old Media's previous track record of ignoring good news from Iraq (two of many examples from NewsBusters, both involving NBC, are here and here). That's why I put up this post.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.

—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters