May was the least deadly month for US troops since the start of the war.Click to EnlargeNumbers via ICasualtiesMay was the least deadly month for US troops since the beginning of the War 5 years ago.The Iraqi news organization Aswat Aliraq reported:The CIA has declared that al-Qaeda is virtually defeated in Iraq and that the country is seeing its lowest level of violence for four years, according to the British newspaper The Times.Nineteen US military personnel have died in Iraq this month, according to the Pentagon, making May the least deadly month for US troops since the beginning of the war, writes journalist Tim Reid in an article.The deadliest month for US troops was May 2007, when 126 died as the insurgency in Baghdad raged.The main reason for the drop in violence, which has also seen a big decline in Iraqi civilian deaths, is a ceasefire by the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose forces have been directly confronted by US and Iraqi troops for over a month.Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll, a US spokesman, said violent incidents in Iraq were down 70 per cent since President Bush ordered a “surge” of 35,000 extra troops into the country last year.