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US military deaths reach 2,000 in Iraq war
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-26 14:18 In the latest casualty reports, the Pentagon said Staff Sgt. George T.
Alexander Jr., 34, of Killeen, Texas, died Saturday in San Antonio of wounds
suffered Oct. 17 in a blast in Samarra, a city 60 miles north of the Iraqi
capital.
A row of U.S. Army
helmets are perched on M-16 rifles during a memorial at Al Asad air base
for the 15 victims of a Chinook helicopter which was shot down by
insurgents in this November 6, 2003 file photo. As the U.S. military death
toll in Iraq reached 2,000, U.S. President George W. Bush said on October
25, 2005 that the war will require more time and sacrifice and rejected
calls for a U.S. pullout. [Reuters] | Earlier
Tuesday, the US military announced the deaths of two unidentified Marines in
fighting last week in a village 25 miles west of Baghdad. Those announcements
brought the U.S. death toll to 2,000, according to figures compiled by The
Associated Press.
It was unclear who was the 2,000th service member to die in Iraq since the US
military often delays death announcements until families are notified. On
Monday, for example, the US command announced that an unidentified Marine was
killed in action the day before — after the deaths of the three service members
reported Tuesday.
In an e-mail statement to Baghdad-based journalists, command spokesman Lt.
Col. Steve Boylan said media attention on the 2,000 figure was misguided and
"set by individuals or groups with specific agendas and ulterior motives."
He described the grim statistic as an "artificial mark on the wall" and urged
news organizations to focus more on the accomplishments of the US military
mission in Iraq.
For example, Iraqi officials announced Tuesday that voters had approved a new
constitution in the Oct. 15 referendum, laying the foundation for
constitutional, democratic Iraqi government after decades of Saddam's tyranny.
"I ask that when you report on the events, take a moment to think about the
effects on the families and those serving in Iraq," Boylan wrote. "The 2,000
service members killed in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom is not a
milestone."
Boylan said the 2,000th service member to die in Iraq "is just as important
as the first that died and will be just as important as the last to die in this
war against terrorism and to ensure freedom for a people who have not known
freedom in over two generations."
He complained that the true milestones of the war were "rarely covered or
discussed," including the troops who had volunteered to serve, the families of
those that have been deployed for a year or more, and the Iraqis who have sought
at great risk to restore normalcy to their country.
"Celebrate the daily milestones, the accomplishments
they have secured and look to the future of a free and democratic Iraq and to
the day that all of our troops return home to the heroes welcome they deserve,"
Boylan wrote.
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