3,000th US soldier died in Iraq

From TUMEKE! blog:

Happy New Year – 3000 American dead

What a way to start 2007, the news that 3000 Americans have died in Iraq, sadly we don’t know how many Iraqis we’ve killed from Operation Freedom and Democracy, it is only “our” dead that deserve constant updates as they cross important ‘threshold’ numbers, like every thousand, every 500, odd number memorials and tributes to American soldiers who die on past President’s birthdays.

As for the 655 000 Iraqis that have been estimated to have died since the start of the invasion, they don’t get anything today.

From the BBC:

US Iraq death toll ‘hits 3,000’

The death of a Texan soldier in Baghdad brings the total number of US troops killed in Iraq to 3,000, independent groups tracking casualties have said.

The US Defence Department confirmed that the soldier was killed by small arms fire in the capital last week.

The announcement came on the final day of 2006 and as the US military reached the end of the deadliest month for its troops in Iraq for two years.

The US president is considering the future strategy for troops in Iraq.

The figure was calculated by an independent website, Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, and by the Associated Press news agency. The Pentagon confirmed the death of 22-year-old Dustin R Donica on 28 December as previously unreported.

Cynically, the authorities delayed announcing the death of this soldier in order not to ‘spoil’ the media show about the hanging of Saddam Hussein …

Comment by Cindy Sheehan: here.

Comment by Iraqi blogger Raed: here.

See also here.