More bad news for troops Grim Milestone For Troops
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article...1245600,00.html
The number of US troops killed in Iraq has reached 3,000 since the war began in 2003 following the death of a soldier.
Special Dustin R Donica, 22, from Spring in Texas, was killed by small arms fire, the Pentagon has confirmed.
The grim milestone was crossed on the final day of 2006 and at the end of the deadliest month for the American military in Iraq in the past 12 months.
At least 111 US service members are reported to have died throughout December.
Spc Donica was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
The announcement of his death follows another earlier of a US soldier killed when a roadside bomb struck his patrol in southeastern Baghdad.
President George Bush is under pressure to present a timetable for the withdrawal of troops.
His critics claim they are being bogged down in Iraq.
A spokesman for Mr Bush said: "The President believes that every life is precious and grieves for each one that is lost. He will ensure their sacrifice was not made in vain."
The President has spent much of the holiday period consulting his closest aides and has promised to announce a new direction in Iraq early in the New Year.
Hundreds of Iraqis are killed every week in sectarian violence which is threatening to pitch Iraq into full-scale civil war.
A toll of 3,000 US dead is likely to be an emotive one for Americans.
But it is less than the number of Iraqi civilians killed in a typical single month in the latter part of 2006, according to the UN.
Comment:
3000 dead US soldiers before the new year, how many more will die in 2007? Over 3000 Muslim civilians die every month , thus far over 100 000 have been killed and millions wounded and mentally scarred.
This is the reality and price countries pay when the US and its allies decide to invade and occupy in the war on so called terror. Is the violence and deaths reducing? Can anyone see an end to this bloodshed? Is there an alternative to US imposed sham Democracy? Dont ask Bush or Blair they dont have a clue.
Death is not something to be gloated at, nor scoffed at. However, 3000 is a pretty low number when looking at the grand scheme of things.
The number only bad because the media and the people are turning against the war.
On the other hand if the public was behind the aciton, the media in support, I am sure you could put a positive spin on it.
Vietnam cost over 50,000 US soldiers. But then again millions of civillians were killed aswell, so it was on a bigger scale over all.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.