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Posted on 10/25/2005 8:22:38 AM PDT by wjersey
BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US death toll in Iraq reportedly hit 2,000 amid a sharp spike in violence that killed 14 Iraqis as the nation awaited results of a key vote on a charter aimed at curbing sectarian violence.
The US network CNN, quoting Pentagon sources, reported Tuesday that the number of soldiers killed since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq had reached 2,000 with the deaths of two more soldiers, a toll likely to add pressure on the US administration over its role in the violence-wracked country.
For the first time, a majority of Americans believe the Iraq war was the "wrong thing to do", according to a poll published in The Wall Street Journal.
Ten people were killed in a string of bombings in the Kurdish stronghold of Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq, while another four were killed in Baghdad, the day after a spectacular bombing blitz on hotels housing international reporters and contractors killed 17.
The Sulaimaniyah attacks targeted a building housing Kurdish peshmerga militamen and the convoy of a senior Kurdish politician, while security sources also defused a bomb outside a hotel used by journalists.
In Baghdad, four people were killed, including two security officials shot dead in the violent southern neighborhood of Dura.
The capital was recovering from a triple suicide car bomb attack against hotels which killed at least 17 people Monday as Iraqis sat down to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
A cement truck packed with explosives was stopped before it reached the Sheraton hotel, and disappeared in a massive flash that sent up a towering column of gray and black smoke.
The blasts rocked Firdus Square, where the statue of ousted president Saddam Hussein was pulled down when US troops marched into Baghdad in April 2003, and shook the Palestine, Sheraton and Sadir hotels.
"If the cement truck had not been stopped in time by guards who opened fire, it would have totally devastated the Sheraton," a security source said.
In the past week, almost 100 people have been killed as the number and strength of attacks surged following the start of former dictator Saddam Hussein's trial for crimes against humanity last Wednesday.
The latest blasts also underscored tension over the outcome of Iraq's draft constitution, which hung on the undeclared results of Sunni-dominated Nineveh province after a second region rejected it.
With a two-thirds majority "no" vote in three of Iraq's provinces sufficient to scuttle the document, all eyes turned to the "swing" northwestern province and its mixed capital of Mosul.
"There is no problem in this province," said senior election official Abdul Hussein Hindawi on Monday. "We don't have a result yet we will get it later today and give it tomorrow."
US and Iraqi officials hope the constitutional process will lead smoothly to general elections in mid-December and draw Sunni Arabs towards a political solution to end sectarian strife.
But the constitution, which is aimed at laying down a democratic future for Iraq, has exacerbated ethnic divisions with disaffected Sunni Arabs fearing it could lead to the break of the country and leave the country's oil wealth in the hands of Shiites and Kurds.
Growing calls for foreign troops to leave Iraq, where some soldiers and analysts say they have essentially become insurgent lightning rods, provoked comment by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"We are not going to defeat (terrorism) by getting out of Iraq, or by not taking the steps necessary to make the world more secure," Blair told Sky News television.
But Jane's Information Group analyst Charles Heymen said attrition among coalition forces would likely lead to a withdrawal at some point.
"The only people it benefits, of course, are the insurgents," he noted.
In the Wall Street Journal poll, 53 percent of those surveyed said they felt that "taking military action against Iraq was the... wrong thing to do", against 34 percent who thought it was correct.
Meanwhile, Saddam's lawyer and a team of foreign officials supporting the defense called for a UN probe into the murder of an attorney working for one of his co-defendants.
The letter emerged as Saddam's Iraqi lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi arrived in Amman to take part in talks on coordinating defense strategy for his next court hearing on November 28.
US President George W. Bush stressed it was crucial "that there will be a fair trial, which is something he didn't give many of the thousands of people he killed".
The trial against Saddam and the seven former regime officials over the 1982 massacre of 148 Shiite villagers opened on October 19.
Gee, still haven't reached the death toll of innocent civilians killed on 9/11
Not that those deaths mean a thing to the anti-American peace "lovers"!!
From the FBI:
There were 16137 murders in the United States in 2004.
There were over 3,000 innocnent folks murdered on 9/11/2001...
When the North met the South in Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863, the bloodiest battle in United States history began. By the end of the third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the combined death toll of the Confederate and Union armies exceeded 51,000.
Estimates are 2,500 Americans and 3,000 other Allied troops died on D-Day.
Forgive me if I don't see how the number of deaths that happen during a war somehow bear relevance to the goals, importance or morality of the war.
While I do not celebrate death, death is part of war. What precidence do the moonbat left want? When a death toll is too high the war must be stopped regardless of whether it is just or not?
These folks are NOT serious people, and should never ever be given any position of authority or power that would entail defense and protection of this nation. They are completely unworthy and incompetent.
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Leftist are more than happy to kill for their causes.. but none are willing to die for them. They are too guilt ridden and egocentrical to understand that some causes do call for the ultimate sacrifice....
Their mindset just cannot grasp this concept.. their selfishness makes it completely alien to their world view.
The lying scumbags. I wondered why I was hearing the number was at 1,999 offically. CNN is expanding the area so they can claim 2000. The DNC is claiming this BEFORE the fact. It's a lie!
I saw that speech and it was great. It touched on so many good points that one would have to be a moron not to agree, but, guess what? The first statement out of the CNN anchor's mouth was to put down G W Bush in the polls and mention the 2,000 deaths. These people have no shame, or worse, no idea that there is a war going on. I can only assume that stupidity will find its own stupid kind and it certainly has with the MSM.
Which is why the Right simply must start holding them accountable. Despite a robust economy the Lamestream is taking serious hits both in the Stock Market and in Ad Revenues. They are the Dinosaur Media and the sooner they are extinct the better. One big hurdle for the Conservative Movement is the dependence all Media outlets place on the AP for background and fillet. We have GOT to get a Conservative version of it. Free Republic is a good start along with the bloggers but the war with the Hate America Left is far far from over yet. It will not be over until the last 60's radical is dead or recants.
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