U.S. death toll in Iraq passes 1,000
 

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html



BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Four U.S. troops died in Iraq on Tuesday, bringing the total of Americans killed in the 18-month-old war to 1,002.

More than three-quarters of those killed, 756 of them, have died in combat, and 647 of those have been killed since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003.

According to a CNN tally, 1,129 coalition troops from 15 nations have died in Iraq.

Three of the soldiers who died Tuesday were killed in fighting in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City. A fourth soldier died of wounds suffered in a roadside bombing Monday, the military said.

Two other deaths were reported by the military.

The Army also reported that a soldier was killed Sunday when his tank hit a roadside bomb in Khalidiya, north of Baghdad and a sailor from a Navy construction battalion was killed Saturday, according to the U.S. Central Command.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged the death toll earlier Tuesday, but told reporters at the Pentagon that going on the offensive against terrorism "has its cost."

"It should be noted that the civilized world passed the thousandth casualty mark a long time ago," he said. "Hundreds were killed in Russia last week. And this week, of course, on September 11, 2004, we remember the 3,000 citizens of dozens of countries who were killed on September 11 in 2001."

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called Tuesday's report a "tragic milestone," and said the thoughts and prayers of all Americans are with those who have had family members killed in Iraq.