THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

From Knight-Ridder

June appears likely to become one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops in Iraq as U.S. officials announced Thursday the deaths of five Marines and a sailor in and near the restive city of Ramadi.

The Marines died in a roadside bomb explosion Wednesday; the sailor was killed by small-arms fire that same day.

The deaths brought to 42 the number of fatalities U.S. troops have suffered from hostile fire in the first half of the month, a figure that's already higher than that for all of June 2003 and June 2004, according to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a Web site that uses official casualty reports to organize deaths by various criteria.

Hostile fire claimed 31 Americans during the first half of May; 67 died from combat during the entire month - the fourth deadliest month since U.S. troops entered Iraq in March 2003.

And, as usual, it's not just American troops.

Violence also continued to take Iraqi lives.

A car bomb hit an Iraqi army convoy in western Baghdad, killing at least eight soldiers and wounding at least 16, according to the Iraqi interior ministry. In a town northeast of the capital, a second car bomb hit an Iraqi army convoy, killing at least two soldiers and wounding at least five. And in northern Iraq, yet another Iraqi army convoy was bombed, killing eight Iraqis and wounding eight.

But it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel.

With polls finding support for the Iraq war at a record low, members of Congress are becoming increasingly vocal about their desire for an exit strategy. On Thursday, 41 House Democrats formed a new "Out of Iraq" caucus.

Separately, four lawmakers - two Democrats and two Republicans - introduced a resolution calling for withdrawal starting in October 2006. It doesn't specify an end point for complete withdrawal, but it bucks the Bush administration line all the same.

Its sponsors include Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., a conservative whose district includes the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune. He's hardly a stereotypical dove; in the early days of the war, Jones' anger over French opposition prompted him to propose replacing French fries with "freedom fries" on the menu in Capitol dining rooms.

It's a start.