October 27, 2005

BAGHDAD: "It's a sign of failure for the Americans in Iraq," said a store owner yesterday after the number of US military dead in Iraq hit 2,000, a grimly symbolic milestone for the American public.

But for Iraqis, the death toll was testament to the inability of the world's largest military power to bring security and stability to the country more than two-and-a-half years after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Some Iraqis also suggested that US commanders were hiding bigger losses suffered as a result of a Sunni-led insurgency.

"It's not true, it must be much, much higher," said Assad Haidar, a barber in the Karradat-Mariyam district that lies near the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad.

"Given the attacks I have witnessed, US losses must be much heavier," he added.

"The Americans deserve it anyway, because they lied when they said they were coming to liberate Iraq."

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced a staff sergeant from Texas had died on Saturday from wounds suffered on October 17, bringing the overall US death toll to 2,000.

The US military said yesterday another soldier had died in a road accident near Camp Bucca in the south, raising the tally to 2,001.

The New York Times printed photos of nearly 1,000 US troops killed in Iraq, as US newspapers devoted their front pages to the death toll.

The Times, which published an accounting in September last year of the first 1,000 US service members to die, followed up with four full pages of headshots of nearly 995 American troops killed in the past year.

It pointed out that the dead represented the highest toll since the Vietnam War.

Protesters across the US took part in hundreds of vigils and rallies to mark the grim milestone, hoping to increase pressure on President George W Bush to start bringing troops home.

In Iraq, Sunni leaders said they would focus on pressing US forces to pull out, hoping the US death toll will encourage Washington to withdraw.

"Our message to the American administration is clear: get out of Iraq or set a timetable for withdrawal or the resistance will keep slaughtering your soldiers until judgment day," said Hussein Al Falluji, a prominent Sunni.

And, the US ambassador to Iraq said that political progress and improving home-grown security forces there may allow the US to cut its military presence next year.

"I do believe it's possible that we could adjust our forces, downsizing them in the course of next year," Zalmay Khalilzad said at the White House.

Meanwhile, at least nine Iraqis were killed in a string of attacks yesterday, including the culture ministry head, while the bodies of eight men shot dead were found near Tikrit in northern Iraq.