2 500 US deaths in Iraq
2006-06-15 16:22
Washington - The number of US military
deaths in the Iraq war has reached 2 500, the Pentagon said on
Thursday, more than three years into a conflict that finds US
and allied foreign forces locked in a struggle with a resilient
insurgency.
In addition, the Pentagon said 18 490 US troops had been
wounded in the war, which began in March 2003 with a US-led
invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed.
"It's important to remember that there is a mission, and
there is a greater good which sometimes necessitates tremendous
sacrifice," said army Brigadier-general Carter Ham, deputy director
for regional operations for the military's joint staff who
formerly commanded US forces in northern Iraq.
"Rather than focus on an aggregate number, I think it's
more important for us to remember that there are individuals in
that aggregate number ... to whom we should be very, very
grateful, and to their families," Ham said.
On an average day in the war, about two US troops are
killed. In the average month, about 64 US troops are killed.
Defence analysts noted that US deaths in Iraq, while
significant, are far fewer than in other protracted US wars
since World War Two.
In the Vietnam War, 58 000 US troops
died.
In the Korean War, 54 000 died.
Roadside bombs, known by the military as improvised
explosive devices, or IEDs, are the biggest cause of US
casualties.
Ham said despite good progress in detecting
roadside bombs and the insurgents responsible for making and
planting them, the overall numbers of these attacks have
increased over the past several months.
Car bombs also remain a deadly threat, Ham said.
'Adaptive and resilient
The steadily mounting US death toll reflects an
insurgency that has not buckled despite facing off against a
military super power, analysts said.
"They've been very adaptive and resilient," said defence
analyst Ted Carpenter of the Cato Institute think tank.
"That's
one of the chief problems that an intervening force faces in
any counterinsurgency war.
"You're fighting on the adversary's
home turf and essentially all the enemy has to do is to
out-wait the intervening power."
Military medical experts say the US death toll would be
even higher if not for advances in medical care and body armor
that keep alive badly wounded troops who would have died in
previous wars.
They point to: advances in body armour, with torso armour
better protecting the chest and abdomen, heart and lungs and
helmets better protecting the brain; improved in-country
surgical capabilities allowing patients to be stabilised and
quickly flown out of Iraq; and better prepared battlefield
medics.
The deadliest month of the war was November 2004, when 137
US troops died in a month when US forces conducted a fierce
offensive in the city of Falluja in the western Anbar province
to deny Sunni Muslim insurgents a safe haven.
US fatalities had dropped in five straight months from
last November through this March, as insurgents appeared to
focus more of their violence on Iraqi civilians and
American-trained Iraqi government security forces.
But the US death tolls in April and May were above
average, and the Pentagon has acknowledged a recent surge in
insurgent violence.