U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq - 564 U.S. service members have died

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040316/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_us_deaths&cid=540&ncid=1480

As of Monday, March 15, 564 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq (news - web sites), according to the Department of Defense (news - web sites). Of those, 385 died as a result of hostile action and 179 died of non-hostile causes, the department said.

Since May 1, when President Bush (news - web sites) declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 426 U.S. soldiers have died — 270 as a result of hostile action and 156 of non-hostile causes, according to the military.

more

[Striker Davies]

1. It may be a lot worse.

Australian journalists who have been there for most of the war and actually counted the bodies of coalition troops in the hospitals and taken real samples of Iraqi dead in various regions have estimated that the US death toll is over 1,000, while the wounded toll is over 9,000. Iraqi deaths may be as high as 37,000.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Welcome to DU SD. I didn't believe such stories until I saw this interview

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0403/14/snn.01.html

A Mother Speaks Out Against Iraqi Conflict

<snip>LIN: Joining me from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is Sue Nederer. She is a member of a group called Military Families Speak Out. More importantly, she's the mother of a young man who died in the Iraq War. Her son, Seth Dvorin was there in the picture there, a young lieutenant.

Thank you very much for being with us tonight, Mrs. Nederer. I know it's -- you know when you were watching the piece along with me, I saw you in the monitor. And I could see as you were watching the reactions of those other parents, you know exactly how they feel. Seth, a young man who wanted to enlist, serve his country. You were married to a man, Seth's father, who believed in this war. And yet, so much has changed for you today?

SUE NEDERER, MILITARY FAMILIES SPEAK OUT: That's correct.

<snip>LIN: Do you feel, as many families feel, that the government has lied to the American public about the number of injuries and the casualties, and perhaps even the death toll?

NEDERER: Absolutely. I believe that's one of the reasons why they do not permit anybody to go to Dover Air Force Base to meet their loved ones. I think there are a lot more that are coming in under the cover of darkness, that they don't want the American public to see. And in speaking with other members of the group, I -- it has come to enlightenment -- it has enlightened me to the fact that there are a lot more people who have been injured, also have mental problems at this point, depression, and in turn, are coming home, and then being sent right back into the same position that they were in prior.

LIN: You have evidence of this? Or is this just hearsay amongst the families?

NEDERER: Talk to the families, it's their children.

more

[RobertSeattle]

2. Here are some faces to put to the statistics

WP's Faces of the Fallen. Wonder how often Bush visits this site?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/iraq/casualties/facesofthefallen.htm?nav=hptop_ts

[Earth_First]

3. Never

ironically, coincides with how often the 'president' personally telephones the families of fallen soldiers or how often he has personally attended a funeral service for said soldiers.