On August 1, all three broadcast networks' evening news programs -- ABC's World News with Charles Gibson, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams -- reported that the death toll for U.S. service members in Iraq was down in July. In particular, on World News, anchor Charles Gibson pointed to the lower July death toll to ask, "[I]s it a sign the U.S. troop surge is improving the situation?" ABC News correspondent Terry McCarthy replied, "[I]t is difficult to say things are getting better in Iraq. Less bad is maybe more accurate." However, none of the programs noted at the time that U.S. troop death numbers for July, while lower than previous months, meant that this July was the deadliest July of the war. Nor did any of the news reports note that the death toll for U.S. service members during the months of June and July were the highest for this two-month period since the war began. Furthermore, while the current number of troops killed in Iraq for the months of June, July, and August (to date) makes the summer of 2007 the bloodiest summer of the war for American soldiers, a Media Matters for America review* of all three network evening news broadcasts found that none of them have reported this fact.

Statistics compiled by the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count on its website iCasualties.org show that more U.S. troops have died in Iraq during June, July, and August this year than the same three-month period in 2003, 2004, 2005, or 2006. The iCasualties.org website, which publishes death count totals provided by the Department of Defense, lists the current total U.S. death count for this period at 255.

From iCasualties.org:

June-July-August 2003: 113 Americans died

June-July-August 2004: 162 Americans died

June-July-August 2005: 217 Americans died

June-July-August 2006: 169 Americans died

June-July-August 2007: 255 Americans died (as of August 28)

According to iCasualties.org, July 2007 was the deadliest July for U.S. troops since the war began:

July 2003: 48 Americans died

July 2004: 54 Americans died

July 2005: 54 Americans died

July 2006: 43 Americans died

July 2007: 79 Americans died

Statistics from iCasualties.org also show that the two-month period of June and July 2007 was the deadliest June-July period of the war:

June-July 2003: 78 Americans died

June-July 2004: 96 Americans died

June-July 2005: 132 Americans died

June-July 2006: 104 Americans died

June-July 2007: 180 Americans died

On ABC, Gibson teased a segment that discussed the July casualty count by saying: “Surge success? U.S. deaths in July in Iraq at the lowest level of the year. Is that a good barometer of progress? And what does it say about the surge?” Gibson introduced the August 1 report by stating, “U.S. fatalities in July were at the lowest level in eight months, even though American forces have moved more aggressively against insurgents. Seventy-eight U.S. troops were killed in Iraq last month.” Gibson added: “That's the lowest number of the year, but is it a sign the U.S. troop surge is improving the situation?” In the follow-up report, McCarthy stated that “it is difficult to say things are getting better in Iraq. Less bad is maybe more accurate.” On the August 1 edition of the CBS Evening News, correspondent Allen Pizzey reported, "[F]or U.S. troops, July was the lowest casualty count in eight months -- 76 killed." Similarly, on the same night's broadcast of NBC's Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams reported simply: “Also today, news that the 78 U.S. military deaths in July was the lowest monthly figure of the year.” (The Department of Defense last announced U.S. military deaths that occurred in July on August 7, therefore the death toll numbers for July cited by the various networks varied.) The three networks' evening news programs' only reports on July's death tolls appear to have come during these three broadcasts. At no point did any of the reports put the July numbers into the historical context of the entire war.

From the August 1 edition of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson:

GIBSON: Surge success? U.S. deaths in July in Iraq at the lowest level of the year. Is that a good barometer of progress? And what does it say about the surge?

[...]

Next to Iraq. U.S. fatalities in July were at the lowest level in eight months, even though American forces have moved more aggressively against insurgents. Seventy-eight U.S. troops were killed in Iraq last month. That's the lowest number of the year, but is it a sign the U.S. troop surge is improving the situation? ABC's Terry McCarthy is in Baghdad tonight.

McCARTHY: Charlie, it is difficult to say things are getting better in Iraq. Less bad is maybe more accurate. July's U.S. death toll may be down, but it still means more than two Americans dying here every day. The military says it expected casualties to go up, as the extra surge troops force their way into new areas.

From the August 1 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:

PIZZEY: The U.S. military has been predicting an upsurge in spectacular attacks, and today they were proven right. A gas tanker blew up next to a line of cars waiting to get fuel in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 60. It came only hours after a car bomb killed 17 civilians and injured more than 30 in a predominantly Shiite area that had been considered one of the safer parts of Baghdad. An unofficial count by the Associated Press made July the second-deadliest month for Iraqis so far this year. In contrast, for U.S. troops, July was the lowest casualty count in eight months -- 76 killed. Three died Tuesday when they were hit by the type of armor-piercing bomb Iran is accused of supplying, and another was killed by gunfire.

From the August 1 edition of NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams:

WILLIAMS: Also today, news that the 78 U.S. military deaths in July was the lowest monthly figure of the year. That, by the way, includes four fallen Americans just yesterday. But civilian deaths in Iraq last month jumped by one-third. And there was new violence today, awful violence: three bomb attacks, including a truck in a -- a bomb in a fuel truck, rather, in Baghdad. That killed more than 65 people.

*A Nexis search of ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News transcripts for terms show: (World News) or show: (Nightly News) or show: (Evening News) and Iraq from 7/31/2007-8/28/2007 yielded these results.