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.
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 