http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21000430-2703,00.html
US toll in Iraq hits 3000, Bush warns of more
http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/
Correspondents in Washington and Baghdad
January 02, 2007
AS Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was buried in his home village
yesterday, the US military death toll in the war reached 3000, with
another 22,000 wounded.
According to the website www.icasualties.org, the Pentagon had
confirmed the previously unreported death of Specialist Dustin Donica,
22, on Thursday.
Donica was killed by small-arms fire in Baghdad. The website said his
death, and that of an unidentified US soldier killed by a roadside bomb
in Baghdad yesterday, had brought the toll to 3000.
The mark was reached as President George W.Bush weighs up options for
the war, including a short-term increase in the number of US troops in
the country to help control the deteriorating military situation.
Mr Bush, at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, mourned the death of the
3000th serviceman, the White House said, but he cautioned Americans
that no quick end to the war was in sight.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mark Ballesteros said: "Every
loss is regretted and there is no special significance to the overall
number of casualties."
Mr Bush has been under pressure to change course in the Iraq conflict
amid widespread public and political discontent.
He is expected to unveil his new strategy early this month, but has
rejected the idea of a timetable for pulling out the 134,000 US troops
now in the country.
"The President believes that every life is precious and grieves for
each one that is lost," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. "He
will ensure their sacrifice was not made in vain."
Earlier, in his New Year's message, Mr Bush said the US would battle
terrorists and work towards a "free and unified Iraq".
"Defeating terrorists and extremists is the challenge of our time, and
we will answer history's call with confidence and fight for liberty
without wavering."
December has been the deadliest month for US forces in the past two
years, with 111 fatalities. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died in
the war.
Mr Bush has shown little appetite for dramatic changes in his war
policy even after his Republican Party's defeat in the November
elections - widely regarded as a referendum on his Iraq policy - which
gave control of Congress to the Democrats.
Despite the execution of Saddam, Mr Bush said violence in Iraq would
not end, and warned more US sacrifices lay ahead.
The US would be "fighting violent jihadists" for years to come, the
White House said.
Anthony Cordesman, a military expert at the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies in Washington, said the political problems in
Iraq and the incoming Democratic Congress spelt bigger trouble for Mr
Bush than the milestone of 3000 dead.
"There is no silver bullet," he said. "The problem is, however, the
current strategy simply cannot work. By the time it (the war plan)
comes out, Congress comes into session - no one is going to remember
the number 3000."
United for Peace and Justice, a coalition of more than 1300 groups
throughout the US that have joined to protest against the war, said it
was planning a march in Washington on January 27.
"We must bear witness to this tragic milestone," the group said on its
website.
"And ... we must remind others that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi
children, women and men have died in this outrageous war and
occupation."
US civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson said yesterday Saddam's
execution would not make the US safer and would only increase the
violence in Iraq.
"Killing him intensifies the violence and reduces our moral authority
in the world," said Mr Jackson, who has travelled to the Middle East on
peace missions. "Today we are not more secure. We're less secure. We've
missed a moment to appeal to those in Iraq to break the cycle of
violence."
Reuters, AP
=================================================
Casualties in Iraq
http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/
American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 3002
--------------------------------------------
Cost of War in Iraq
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
The War in Iraq Costs
$355,200,000,000 ++++++ & increasing exponentially at an alarming rate
!!!!!
HOOROO !!!
UNCLE WALLY
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