U.S. Military Deaths Reach 2,000 in Iraq

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
By ROBERT H. REID - Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - (AP) The U.S. military death toll reached 2,000
with the death of an Army sergeant who was wounded by a roadside bomb north
of Baghdad and died in Texas last weekend.
A Pentagon announcement Tuesday said Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander
Jr., 34, of Killeen, Texas, died in San Antonio, Texas. The death raised the
Associated Press tally of military fatalities in the Iraq war to 2,000.
Alexander was wounded Oct. 17 in Samarra, a town 60 miles north of
the Iraqi capital. He was assigned to the 1st Batallion, 15th Infantry
Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga.
Earlier Tuesday, the chief spokesman for the American-led
multinational force called on reporters covering the conflict not to look at
the 2,000 death since March 2003 as a milestone.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, director of the force's combined
press center, described the number as an "artificial mark on the wall."
"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 said in
an e-mail. "The 2,000 service members killed in Iraq supporting Operation
Iraqi Freedom is not a milestone. It is an artificial mark on the wall set
by individuals or groups with specific agendas and ulterior motives.
"The 2,000th Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine that is killed in
action 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,"
Boylan wrote.
He complained that the true milestones of the war were "rarely
covered or discussed," and said they included 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.
Boylan said they included Iraqis who sought to join the security
forces and had became daily targets for insurgent attacks at recruiting
centers, those who turned out to vote in the constitutional referendum, and
those who chose to risk their lives by joining the government.
"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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