Deadliest year in Iraq war, but slow-down clear

BAGHDAD (CNN) - While 2007 has been the deadliest year for U.S. troops in Iraq, December marks the second-lowest monthly death toll of the war.

As of evening Dec. 31 in Baghdad, the U.S. government has reported 899 U.S. troops killed in Iraq in 2007. Last year the toll was 822. The reported death toll for December stands at 21. The only lower monthly toll was 20 in February 2004.

An official with Iraq's Interior Ministry said Friday 2007 brought the highest-ever civilian death toll in the war, with 16,232 civilians killed. Last year, the ministry said 12,371 civilians were killed. The official said 481 Iraqi civilians were killed in December - the lowest reported monthly toll for the year.

But civilian casualties in Iraq are impossible to confirm, and questions have been raised about how the Iraqi government decides which deaths to blame on the war. The United Nations said more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in violence in 2006.