July 22, 2004
U.S. TOLL IN IRAQ REACHES 900
Combined News Services
A roadside bomb killed a patrolling American soldier shortly after midnight yesterday north of Baghdad, marking the 900th death among U.S. troops in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry Division said the bomb killed one of the division's soldiers during a patrol in a Bradley fighting vehicle in Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad. The soldier's identity was not available last night.
Counts of the U.S. service members killed in Iraq vary, with some already exceeding the 900 figure. The Pentagon's latest casualty update - released Tuesday and not including yesterday's death or four others reported Tuesday - put the death toll at 893 service members, plus two civilian Defense Department employees. The figures include both combat deaths and nonhostile ones.
The number of American deaths each month in Iraq has dropped considerably from its high point in April, when at least 135 troops were killed during the worst outbreak of anti-coalition violence since the end of major hostilities May 1, 2003. The toll dropped to about 80 in May, and about half that in each month since.
The decline followed a Marine pullout from Fallujah and a series of cease-fires with Shia militants who had fought U.S. forces in Baghdad and across central and southern Iraq.
Meanwhile, the continuing violence has taken an even greater toll on Iraqi civilians. Although estimates vary greatly, a report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington-based think tank, said in June that 9,436 to 11,317 Iraqi civilians had been killed in hostilities since the invasion last year. An online project called Iraq Body Count put the toll as high as 13,213 yesterday.
A coalition challenged
Some U.S. allies have pulled out of Iraq in response to the violence. Most recently, the Philippines recalled its forces to win the freedom of one of its citizens, who was held hostage. A summary of the major contributing nations:
NUMBER OF TROOPS
United States 140,000
Britain 7,900
Italy 2,700
Poland 2,400
Ukraine 1,700
the Netherlands 1,400
Romania 700
Japan 600
South Korea 600
Denmark 500
Bulgaria 455
Thailand 450
El Salvador 380
Hungary 300
Have pulled out all troops.
Spain
Honduras
Dominican Rep.
Nicaragua
the Philippines
SOURCE: IRAQI COALITION CASUALTY COUNT; GLOBALSECURITY.ORG
U.S. CASUALTIES IN IRAQ
TOTAL: 900 KILLED
Hostile fire 74%
Accident / nonhostile fire 26%
6,000 WOUNDED