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US toll in Iraq hits 4 000
24/03/2008 17:29 - (SA)
Washington - President George W Bush was "grieved" that the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq had reached 4 000 and assumed responsibility for the decisions he has taken, the White House said on Monday.
"He obviously is grieved by the moment, but he mourns the loss of every single life from the very first that was lost in this conflict to the ones that are lost today," said White House spokesperson Dana Perino.
"And he bears the responsibility for the decisions that he made and he also bears the responsibility to continue to focus on succeeding."
Four US troops were killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad late Sunday, a US military statement said, taking the toll since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq to 4 000.
Vice-President Dick Cheney, on a visit to Jerusalem, said earlier that the grim milestone "may have a psychological effect on the public, but it's a tragedy that we live in a kind of world where that happens".
At least 97% of the US casualties occurred after Bush announced the end of "major combat" in Iraq on May 1 2003.
Despite the losses, he used a speech on the eve of the war's fifth anniversary last week to defend his decision to invade and to reject any notion of retreating despite the "high cost in lives and treasure".
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