It seems that too many people are looking to criticize models of aircraft in an effort to explain combat losses.
The losses of aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan have been due to the fact that there are actual wars going on in those places.
Our attack helicopter pilots, Marine and Army, are getting down and dirty with the enemy so that they can do their jobs- supporting our troops on the ground and winning the battles.
Differences in numbers of losses are most probably not due to aircraft design or tactics- more likely to numbers of aircraft involved and the flow of the specific battles fought.
We may be better off asking why, when much of the combat is at close quarters in urban areas, combat losses in attack helicoters have been so low. Perhaps a combination of capable airframes and well trained pilots?
I do take exception, however, as a former Marine AH-1W pilot and a current Bell pilot on the AH-1Z/UH-1Y program to rjsquirrel's comments above.
The Marine Corps chose the UH-1Y and AH-1Z based on avareity of reasons, including commonality of components, mission flexibility, and performance. Both aircraft are designed to the Marine Corps' requirements for their missions. And when the official performance numbers are published, you can see the error of assumptions of capability.
The Marines did not say that the Apache or Blackhawk were bad aircraft. They just chose different aircraft, in their opinion better suited to their mission. (And had they gone with an H-60, it would have more closely resembled the Navy version H-60S.) Anyone who would believe that the Marines would spend hundreds of millions of dollars on an aviation program to just be different from the Army is missing the point. Flying the same aircraft as the Army would certainly not make anyone question whether the Marine Corps needs to exist. From that reasoning, the Marines would not be using the M-16 or flying the F-18 or using M1 tanks.
The Marines will do their unique mission using whatever tools they need to do the job- just as the Army will do for their missions.