Coalition records its 1,000th death in Iraq

CNN ^ | Friday, July 9, 2004 | Staff

[Woliff]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier has died of wounds he suffered in fighting in Baghdad late Thursday, a U.S. military spokesman said.

The death brings coalition deaths -- both hostile and non-hostile -- since the start of the war to 1,000. U.S. military deaths now total 880, with 657 of them by hostile fire.

The soldier's name was withheld pending notification of next of kin, AP reported.

The spokesman said five insurgents were detained in the fighting.

On Thursday, a mortar attack killed five U.S. troops and an Iraqi National Guard member in the central Iraqi city of Samarra, according to a U.S. military spokesman in Tikrit.

Twenty soldiers and three Iraqis were wounded.

[Woliff]

Military Fatalities: By Month

Period	US	UK	Other*	Total	Avg	Days
7-2004	22	0	2	24	2.67	9
6-2004	42	1	7	50	1.67	30
5-2004	80	0	4	84	2.71	31
4-2004	135	0	5	140	4.67	30
3-2004	52	0	0	52	1.68	31
2-2004	20	1	2	23	0.79	29
1-2004	47	5	0	52	1.68	31
12-2003	40	0	8	48	1.55	31
11-2003	82	1	27	110	3.67	30
10-2003	43	1	2	46	1.48	31
9-2003	30	1	1	32	1.07	30
8-2003	35	6	2	43	1.39	31
7-2003	47	1	0	48	1.55	31
6-2003	30	6	0	36	1.2	30
5-2003	37	4	0	41	1.32	31
4-2003	73	6	0	79	2.63	30
3-2003	65	27	0	92	7.67	12
Total	880	60	60	1000	2.09	478

[demlosers]

And the media drools....

Buttheads.

[snarkytart]

Oh no.
Here we go the media has been keeping score..the big death watch. ONE THOUSAND! They are happy now, watch all the news lead with this tonight!

[leadpenny]

It's not from FOX. I don't know if you should be posting this?* /s


* Especially in Breaking News.

[Petronski]

Party favors and pointy paper hats currently being handed out at CNN/DNC headquarters. Congratulations!

[Blood of Tyrants]

They are dancing with delight over at DU.

[bcoffey]

To keep things in perspective, we must remember that in the years 1993-2000, the average yearly fatality rate for active duty servicemen and women was 900. (7,200 total for the 8 year period).

1,000 deaths in 478 days, while tragic, is somewhat below this average.

[ladtx]

A little perspective: 2,100 Union soldiers and 1,550 Confederate soldiers were killed at Antietam, one battle. These are the approximate numbers for September 17th, 1862. No one knows the actual number of men who would later die of their wounds or the number of missing who had been killed. If you take a conservative estimate of 20% of the wounded dying of their wounds and 30% of the missing killed, the approximate number of soldiers that died as a result of this battle are 7,640.

[dirtboy]

Ah - U.S. Soliders weren't dying at a fast enough rate for the lib media, so now they're lumping in all coalition forces to make the death rate seem higher to those not paying close enough attention.

[hawkaw]

Sadly the media will not have perspective.

Instead, I fear all day long and on the nightly newscasts you will hear about this 1,000 number over and over and over again.

To bad the press won't play Putan's comments (in the same fashion as they will hype this) from a few weeks back about how the Russians warned the USA that Iraq was planning terroist attacks in the USA prior to Gulf War 2

[Petronski]

They are dancing with delight over at DU.

[Woliff]

A little perspective: 2,100 Union soldiers and 1,550 Confederate soldiers were killed at Antietam

But no families from 1872 are voting in 2004.

[No Blue States]

more perspective:

Iraq war deaths in comparison to some of the WW2 battles:

We lost over 30,000 at Battan

12,000 at Normandy

Around 17,000 at Iwo Jima

Just battles in a larger war but with a population half the size it is now.

Worst of all was the Civil War with a loss of in excess of 600,000. With a total population of about 25,000,000.

As of Spring 2004 We had lost somewhere around 800 people in Iraq since the war started, but in a similiar time period more people have been murdered in Los Angeles.

Each one of these were much more than a number to make a point, each individual number represents one of us who gave all so the rest of us could be free. God Bless Our Brave Soldiers and their families, and America. If you are a Vet in any war for America, Thank you so much.

[OneLoyalAmerican]

Nearly one third of the number of Americans who died September 11, 2001.

www.mishalov.com/wtc_southtower.html

[No Blue States]

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions, and blood of better men than himself. --John Stewart Mill--

[verity]

During the Pacific Campaign in WWII, an Essex class aircraft carrier sustained a direct hit from a Kamikazi(sp) and had 735 fatalities with a two hours.

[snarkytart]

OH!!

Ok coalition! No I was not paying attention. Not that this is any better for the the soldiers that died, but at least they can not say "1000th American Soldier Killed".

[rwfromkansas]

Right....we aren't even to 900 Americans yet and they go nuts.

[rwfromkansas]

good point about the Putin comment though