|
Days death toll highest since march { November 3 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54882-2003Nov2.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54882-2003Nov2.html
Day's Death Toll For U.S. Troops Is Highest Since March
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 3, 2003; Page A14
With the deaths of at least 17 soldiers yesterday in Iraq, the total number of U.S. troops who have died there has increased to 379 -- almost two-thirds of them since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1.
Yesterday's death toll from the downing of a Chinook helicopter outside Baghdad, plus a death from a roadside bomb explosion, was the highest in a single day since early in the invasion of Iraq.
As November begins, it is potentially the deadliest month since the U.S.-led attack began. At least 19 soldiers have been killed in two days, compared with a total of 33 U.S. military deaths in September and 42 in October.
The deaths reported by the U.S. Central Command include those considered "hostile" from enemy fire, and "non-hostile" from vehicle accidents, medical problems and suicides not directly related to combat. The total number of "hostile" deaths now stands at 253, according to military accounts, including 139 since May 1.
The number of wounded U.S. soldiers also has begun to climb more steeply: 26 have been wounded this month, and 2,155 since hostilities began in March. Of those, a large majority were injured in action.
When U.S. troops first entered Iraq and dashed toward Baghdad, many of the casualties occurred in clusters during deadly ambushes and from artillery fire and helicopter crashes. In keeping with the guerrilla war that U.S. and coalition troops are now facing, the U.S. casualties tended to come in ones, twos and threes before yesterday's crash.
As reported by Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Persian Gulf region, the U.S. deaths are coming most frequently from rocket-propelled grenade attacks, roadside explosives and small-arms fire.
Although there was a significant increase in U.S. casualties in October and now November, the month of July, with 46 dead, still has the highest per-month casualty toll since major hostilities ended.
With soldiers from the National Guard and Army Reserves well represented in Iraq, they are a growing part of the casualty list. Before this month's deadly attacks, the total number of Guard and Reserve dead in Iraq since the end of hostilities totaled at least 46, according to Defense Department statistics.
Included in the casualty count are at least four women. Although small, the number is significant in relation to the total of eight women in uniform who died during the far longer Vietnam War.
The identities of all but one of the 36 soldiers on the helicopter that crashed yesterday were withheld until their families could be notified; last night, defense officials confirmed the death of Staff Sgt. Paul A. Velazquez, 29, of California, assigned to a unit of III Corps Artillery at Fort Sill, Okla. Some of the 20 wounded were reported to be in serious condition.
Before yesterday's Chinook downing, the most lethal attack in Iraq occurred during the military campaign on March 23, when Army soldiers were ambushed near the southern city of Nasiriyah. Twelve soldiers were killed, nine wounded and seven captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch. A total of 29U.S. troops were killed that day, making it the deadliest of the war.
In addition to the U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, 51 British troops and five others from Spain, Ukraine and Denmark have died. At least six American civilian contract workers, as well as United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross employees, have been killed in recent months. Two civilian contractors working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers died in a roadside bomb attack yesterday outside the volatile city of Fallujah, and another was wounded.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld stressed yesterday that U.S. troops are not the only ones being targeted. A total of 85 Iraqis working with the United States as security forces have been killed in recent months, he said on ABC's "This Week."
The United States has about 130,000 troops in Iraq, and other coalition partners have about 30,000. It remains unclear exactly who is mounting the daily attacks against the soldiers, because no one has taken responsibility for them. But Rumsfeld gave a description yesterday on "Fox News Sunday" of the attackers.
"There are criminals in the country who will do anything for money," he said. "There are foreign terrorists in that country, like the Ansar-al-Islam, who have come back in from Iran and are trying to kill people. And there are the remnants of the Baathist regime, and they want to take the country back."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
|
|
