http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,4102618.story

Four American soldiers die in an explosion in south Baghdad on a day when more than 60 Iraqis are also killed.
By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 24, 2008
BAGHDAD -- Four U.S. soldiers were killed when a bomb hit their vehicle in south Baghdad late Sunday, bringing the number of U.S. service members killed in the Iraq war to 4,000.

The grim milestone came at a time when attacks against the U.S. military are ebbing and officials have claimed significant progress against Iraq's deadly insurgency and sectarian violence. It was reached about 10 p.m. on a day when more than 60 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital.

The U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad came under heavy mortar or rocket fire. There were no immediate reports of casualties inside the fortified enclave, which houses the U.S. Embassy, government offices and military bases. But Iraqi police said a number of the projectiles missed their apparent target and caused casualties in neighboring districts.

At least 426 of the Americans killed in the war were from California, more than any other state, and 98 of them were women, according to the independent website icasualties.org. Those figures do not include the soldiers killed Sunday, whose identities were withheld pending notification of relatives.

Last year was the deadliest of the 5-year-old war for U.S. troops, with 901 killed, according to the website. U.S. commanders had warned that the number of casualties would increase after President Bush ordered an additional 28,500 U.S. troops deployed in an effort to quell the civil war.

Many of the extra troops were assigned to small neighborhood outposts, to build better ties and provide a continuous presence in the areas they protect. The strategy left the troops more vulnerable to attackers, such as a suicide bomber who killed five soldiers as they chatted with Baghdad shopkeepers March 10.

But commanders say the strategy has yielded better intelligence about insurgent activities. The number of attacks in Iraq has dropped about 60% since the number of U.S. troops reached nearly 170,000 in June, according to the military. But American officials have warned that the progress is reversible and militants will continue to wage attacks as most of the additional troops leave by the end of July.

"There is no question that there has been significant progress in the security arena, but we see daily examples of the fact that Al Qaeda and other insurgent groups and militia criminals also remain very, very dangerous," Gen. David H. Petraeus, top U.S. commander in Iraq, said this month.

At least 27 U.S. personnel have been killed so far in March, down from more than 100 a month in April, May and June, according to icasualties.org. Dozens more have been wounded, including one in Sunday night's attack.

Homemade bombs like the one used Sunday remain the biggest killers of U.S. forces, accounting for at least 1,733 deaths, according to icasualties.org.

The number of Iraqi deaths far outpaces the American toll. At least 8,037 Iraqi soldiers and policemen have been killed, according to the U.S.-based Brookings Institution. Estimates of the civilian death toll have ranged from tens of thousands to more than half a million.

In Sunday's worst attack, a suicide bomber blew up a tanker laden with explosives at the entrance to an Iraqi army base in Mosul, a northern city described by the U.S. military as the last urban stronghold of Sunni militants loyal to the group Al Qaeda in Iraq.

At least 12 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 30 others injured along with 12 civilians, said army Brig. Gen. Mohammed Ahmed.

"The bombing was very powerful," taxi driver Khalid Azzawi said from a hospital bed. "I lost control and crashed into the sidewalk."

Another suicide car bomber attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in Mosul, killing one officer and injuring 10 other people, police said.

Militants pounded the capital with at least 16 rockets and seven mortar rounds Sunday, including three barrages aimed at the Green Zone, the Interior Ministry said. U.S. officials did not immediately say who was responsible. The strikes killed at least 13 people and injured 29, police said.

Gunmen in three cars sprayed bullets at commuters waiting to board minibus taxis, killing seven people and injuring 16 others in the mostly Shiite southeastern neighborhood of Zafaraniya, police said.

In the northwestern Shiite neighborhood of Shula, police said a suicide car bomber attacked a line of people waiting for gasoline, killing seven of them and injuring 12. The U.S. military described the method of attack as a parked car bomb and put the toll at five dead and seven wounded.

U.S.-led forces traded fire with suspected insurgents during an operation east of Baqubah targeting members of a suicide bombing network, killing 12 people, the military said in a statement. Iraqi police and hospital officials put the toll at 15 and said the victims included women and children.

Since the invasion in 2003 - 4,000 American's and 1.2 million Iraqi's dead, 7 million Iraqi's seriously injured, 5 million Iraqi's displaced, infant mortality up, life expectancy down, infrastructure destroyed . McCain wants another 100 years of this - an endless war to create an endless peace - the mother of all oxymorons. What the public don't see are the numbers of seriously injured US troops and the bodies coming home in body-bags - the lions led by the donkies.

Consciousness amongst the US population is growing at a faster rate now then during the time of the US slaughter in Vietnam, and as more and more US troops return in boxes, people will take to the streets in ever increasing numbers. What Cheney and the other members of the US ruling class cannot dismiss is the reality that this war is deeply unpopular not only in the US but throughout the world. The American political class and the ideology that they represent is more detested now than at any time in its history. Like all former empires before it the US empire is sure to collapse as certain as night follows day.

1.2 million dead Iraqis now..

It was 650,000 just what lets say June 2007---thats the liars number btw not the real death rate which is closer to 80-100,000 total.

Meaning roughly 800,000 more Iraqis have died in the past 8 months. Which is amazign since the death rate of 2,000 a month 8 months ago is now 1/4 of that on average.

The past 8 months in which violence across Iraq has plummetted, and a surge you both opposed has worked.



*personal insult removed.*
.....




OH and now..tell everyone you want to abandon and leave those people to die.

How many million do you want to leave to die agian?



Its your preaching back it up... and tell eveyrone how many you will leave to die.

How many?

...they shall kick invaders out...and declare victory over Americans!

__________________
EU : Portable Stereo AM/FM Radio Cassette Recorder
CIS (Russia) : АМ/ЧМ Stereo Magnitola
US : Boombox (Ghettoblaster)
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'I trust no one, not even myself.'
Joseph Stalin
'Couldn't agree with you more!'
Sarah Palin

Wrong

The US (and a small UK force) are there to liberate Iraq from brutal dictators.


Maybe you support dirty terrorists funded by the Iranian Religious nutters - that is your choice.


The Iraqi democratically elected Governemt will win - as Democracy will win throughtout the World one day.

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Russian Imperialism is a greater danger to the World today than AlQueda terrorism

You truly think so?I cant understand that.So many people dead,so much suffering and you say all this for democracy?
You sound like churchil did.Terible!

If you're going to arguing for withdrawing from Iraq, don't do it with the number of deaths of US soldiers. 4000 dead in five years of combat is incredibly low.

Love it or hate it, withdrawing now would simply be the worst decision we can make as a nation. Our soldiers are the only people holding any semblence of order together in the nation. Iraq alone doesn't have the means at the moment to defend itself. If we walk now, the entire situation will just get worse. More Iraqis will die, and no one can be sure what will become of the Iraqi government.

Please, peace is a wonderful idea, but we have to be serious about this matter. Those we are fighting against in Iraq have no interest in peace as we understand it. We cannot expect to see peace in Iraq just because we pull out.

I agree to the end that the war was unjustified, but it's too late to argue about that. We went in anyway, we removed what had been, for better or worse, a stable government, and now we have the responsibility to stay there until we sort out the problems we created in the nation.

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WARNING: In the unlikely event of an accidental agreement with any or all points made in the above post, contact a clinical psychologist immediately.

The views expressed in the above post are not necessarily those of Joker and/or any of his affiliates.

Nope. To seize iraqi land and steal iraqi oil. Screams about "spreading democracy" are nothing short of standard "cover-your-ass" operation.


I support iraqi resistance as well as I support IRA resistance against greedy British invaders.
What else? I had a military service in Soviet Army and easily can to speak with Western Democratizators by language of RPK-74, RPG-7 or AGS-17 "Flame"....in case if you'll try to spread your perverted style of democracy further on East.

__________________
EU : Portable Stereo AM/FM Radio Cassette Recorder
CIS (Russia) : АМ/ЧМ Stereo Magnitola
US : Boombox (Ghettoblaster)
----------------------------------
'I trust no one, not even myself.'
Joseph Stalin
'Couldn't agree with you more!'
Sarah Palin

Yes - I truely 100% believe that is so.

“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” Churchill


Democracy is by far the best form of Government, so why has so many people died in Iraq? Well that's because there are people prepared to follow despots such as Moqtada al-Sadr and kill innocent people and fight against the forces of Democracy.

They will loose in the end. The blood of the innocent is on their hands

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Russian Imperialism is a greater danger to the World today than AlQueda terrorism

Then you are a terrorist sympathier - end of.

And no the US and UK are not there to steal land/oil

__________________
Russian Imperialism is a greater danger to the World today than AlQueda terrorism