CBS has posted the video of Walter Cronkite reporting Martin Luther King's assassination on April 4th, 1968. Walter Cronkite had almost finished broadcasting the "CBS Evening News" when he received word of Martin Luther King's assassination. Cronkite's report detailed the shooting and the nation's reaction to the tragedy. This is the 40th anniversary of that tragic day. NPR has a feature with Martin Luther King's song recalling April 4th, 1968.
Grim Milestone: 4,000 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq War
A roadside I.E.D. killed four U.S. soldiers on Sunday. This brought the U.S. death toll in Iraq to 4,000. A Reuters story said that the White House called the 4,000 milestone a "sober moment."
President George W. Bush is saddened by the loss of 4,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and will focus on ensuring the U.S. succeeds in the 5-year-old conflict, the White House said on Monday.
"It's a sober moment, and one that all of us can focus on in terms of the number of 4,000," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said after a roadside bomb in Iraq killed four U.S. soldiers, pushing the U.S. death toll to a new milestone.
"The president feels each and every one of the deaths very strongly and he grieves for their families," Perino said. "He obviously is grieved by the moment but he mourns the loss of every single life."
The 4,000th U.S. death came days after Bush marked the fifth anniversary of the war and said the United States was on track toward victory.
An Associated Press news story contains some data about those 4,000 deaths including the following statistical information:
Percentages by service branch: Army: 72 percent; Marines: 24 percent; Navy: 2 percent; Air Force: 1 percent (Coast Guard had one death.)
Percentages by service force: Active duty: 83 percent; National Guard: 10 percent; Reserve: 6 percent.
Percent who died since President Bush declared major combat ended: 97 percent
Months with the most deaths since the start of the war: November 2004: 137; April 2004: 135; May 2007: 126; December 2006: 112; January 2005: 107
The average number of U.S. soldiers dying monthly in Iraq is down considerably since the surge began. Before the surge there were consecutive months with 80 ore more troops dying each month. Since the surge began the highest number of U.S. troops lost in a single month was January, 2008 when 40 U.S. troops were killed. Over the past few weeks there has been a reported upswing in the violence in Iraq that has some concerned the insurgents might be finding a way around the increase in troops. General Patreaus has said that U.S. troops need some political gains in Iraq to coincide with their military successes.
Wired's Danger Room blog notes that the New York Times has faces and stories of the fallen soldiers in its Casualties of War feature. The Iraq Coalition Casualties website has data and statistics.
Admiral William Fallon Resigns as Centcom Commander
Admiral William Fallon has resigned as the Commander of Centcom. His resignation follows an Esquire magazine story that said Fallon was basically standing in the way of the Bush Administration starting a war with Iran. The BBC reports that Fallon cited articles like this as a reason for deciding to retire.
He cited the "embarrassing situation and public perception of differences between my views and administration policy" as the reason for retiring.
An article by Esquire magazine said he was opposed to the use of force against Iran over its nuclear activities.
Adm Fallon said he did not believe there were differences over policy objectives.
The 63-year-old admiral became head of the US Central Command - which covers an area from the Horn of Africa into central Asia and includes responsibility for US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan - a year ago.
US Defense Secretary doesn't think they are differences between Fallon's ideas and the Bush administration's policies.
He said "there is a misperception" that the admiral disagreed with the Bush administration's policies towards Iran. "I don't think there were differences at all," Mr Gates said.
A statement released by Adm Fallon through Central Command's Florida headquarters seemed to reflect those sentiments.
"I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command," he said.
"The simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America's interests there."
Gates also said the belief that U.S. was now going to go to war with Iran now that Fallon was out is "ridiculous."
Why is Fallon resigning over what the public perception of him is? Why should that be so cruicial? A great deal of the public was vastly unaware of it and a small few even read Esquire. His resignation reasons are a lot different then the many who resign to spend more time with their family. The CentCom Commander did state last year that an attack on Iran "will not happen on my watch." Fallon has also called the Esquire article "really disrespectful and ugly."
Fallon's Deputy, Martin E. Dempsey, will take over as acting commander of Centcom on March 31st, 2008.
A roadside I.E.D. killed four U.S. soldiers on Sunday. This brought the U.S. death toll in Iraq to 4,000. A Reuters 
