U.S. toll in Iraq hits 4,000 as four soldiers killed
Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:33pm EDT
By Ross Colvin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were blown up in Baghdad, pushing the U.S. military death toll in Iraq to 4,000 just days into the sixth year of a war that President George W. Bush says the United States is on track to win.

The U.S. military said on Monday the soldiers were killed on Sunday when a roadside bomb, the biggest killer of U.S. soldiers in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, exploded near their vehicle in southern Baghdad. One soldier was wounded.

On the same day dozens of Iraqis were killed in rocket and mortar attacks on the U.S.-protected "Green Zone" government and diplomatic compound in central Baghdad, and in other bombings in the capital and elsewhere.

The White House said President George W. Bush was saddened by the loss of 4,000 troops and would focus on ensuring the United States succeeds in the conflict.

"It's a sober moment, and one that all of us can focus on," a White House spokeswoman said.

The United States lost 58,000 troops in over a decade of fighting in Vietnam until 1975, and 54,000 in the three-year-long Korean war that began in 1950.

The U.S. military played down the latest Iraqi toll. "No casualty is more or less significant than another; each soldier, marine, airman and sailor is equally precious and their loss equally tragic," a spokesman said.

Anthony Cordesman, a respected Iraq analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the 4,000th death could trigger another wave of polarized debate.

"Those who oppose the war will see it as further reason to end it. Those who support it will point to military progress and say that future casualties will be much lower," he said.

Cordesman criticized the media for focusing on the death toll when the number of wounded was "far, far higher and has more lasting impact as a human tragedy and in terms of costs".

Some 29,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in the war that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis, as well as 175 British troops and 134 from other U.S. allies.

Although Americans are more preoccupied with domestic economic troubles, the Iraq war is still an important issue in the presidential campaign, with Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama calling for a timetable for withdrawal.

Bush said in a speech marking the fifth anniversary of the war on March 19 that the United States was on track for victory and said withdrawing troops, who now number about 160,000, would embolden al Qaeda and neighboring Iran.

MILESTONES

"I doubt the 4,000 milestone will have the impact that the 3,000 did. The conventional wisdom then was that things were going badly," said Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

The 3,000th U.S. soldier was killed in December 2006, when Sunni Arab insurgents were battling to oust the Baghdad government and before Bush unveiled a plan to send 30,000 more troops to Iraq to quell the violence.

"Today, by contrast, the public's general perception of Iraq is less negative, and coverage for the last six months has tended to focus on the reduction in violence and U.S. casualties," Biddle said.

But the weekend barrages on the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. embassy, and the continued attacks on U.S. troops may indicate that Iraqi militants are trying to change that.

"Al Qaeda and extreme elements of the (Mehdi Army) have every incentive to find ways to raise the U.S. casualties between now and November and will be seeking ways to use bombings to raise the rate and number," Cordesman said.

Fighters from the Mehdi Army militia, which the U.S. military once called the greatest threat to peace in Iraq, ordered shops to close in some Baghdad districts on Monday in what they said was the start of a "civil disobedience campaign".

Authorities in the southern province of Basra imposed a night-time curfew on Monday after clashes between police and Mehdi Army militia.

The militia has kept a low profile since Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called a ceasefire last August and extended it last month, a move U.S. commanders say has helped to sharply reduce violence between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Muslims.

(Additional reporting by Randy Fabi; Editing by Dominic Evans)

イラク開戦以降の米兵の死者数が4000人に＝米軍声明

2008年 03月 24日 12:37 JST

　［バグダッド　24日　ロイター］　イラクの首都バグダッドで23日、道路脇に仕掛けられた爆弾が爆発、米兵４人が死亡し、１人が負傷した。03年の開戦以降の米軍関係者の死者数が4000人に達した。

　米軍が24日、声明で明らかにした。

US military Iraq toll hits 4,000

Last Updated: Monday, 24 March 2008, 21:50 GMT

The number of United States military personnel killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion five years ago has passed the 4,000 mark.
The latest to die were four soldiers whose patrol vehicle was blown up by a bomb in southern Baghdad on Sunday.

President George W Bush offered his "deepest sympathies" to the families of US military personnel killed in Iraq.

Separately, the bodies of two US security contractors kidnapped in Iraq more than a year ago have been found.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it had recovered the remains of Ronald Withrow, who was seized in January 2007, and John Roy Young, abducted in November 2006.

On Sunday, insurgent attacks and military operations left at least 47 people dead across Iraq.

The bloodshed comes despite an overall reduction in violence since last June, following the US deployment of an extra 30,000 troops in violence-hit areas - the so-called "troop surge".

'Tragedies do happen'

According to an Associated Press breakdown of the 4,000 figure, 97% of deaths occurred after President Bush declared on 1 May 2003 that major combat was over.

If you interviewed the 30,000 [wounded], they would have no ill will
US Staff Sgt Jonathan Criss
Roadside bombs accounted for 44% of deaths last year and 55% to date in 2008, the agency adds.

US soldiers interviewed by AFP news agency in Iraq said they were saddened by the figure of 4,000, but argued the conflict was justified.

"Every one of those people signed up voluntarily and it's a shame that that happens, but tragedies do happen in war," said Senior Airman Preston Reeves, 26.

Staff Sgt Jonathan Criss, 37, said the US could not "just walk away and leave the Iraqi people".

"If you interviewed the 30,000 [wounded], they would have no ill will," he added.

Withdrawal options

The 4,000th death comes just days after Mr Bush marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion, saying that it had made the world a better place.

He said in his speech that the troop surge had "opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror".

Reacting on Monday to the deaths of the four US soldiers, President Bush said: "I offer our deepest sympathies to their families."

He vowed "to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain" on what he described as a "day of reflection" to honour US war dead.

President Bush has repeatedly rejected any possibility of a full withdrawal until Iraq is able to defend itself.

He has the backing of the expected Republican candidate in this November's presidential election, Senator John McCain.

But Democratic hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both pledged to end the war.

Senator Clinton has said she will start to withdraw troops within 60 days of being elected.

Senator Obama also favours a phased withdrawal, and has frequently said he would like all but a small residual force out within 16 months.