See the many details at "Iraqi Coalition Casualties Count" and Iraqi Coalition Body Count and Iraq Body Count.
Also see a collection of photos of American coffins.

Also see "The Human Cost of War" on Death descrepencies and refugees.
Also see "The Toll of War" from NPR an interactive graphic with month by month statistics of US deaths.

The above chart does not include the 100+ soldiers from UK, Italy, and Spain killed by early April 2004, the 350 Iraqi police officers killed, and the dozens of U.S. civilians killed, such as those in Fallujah in late March and April 2003.  As of mid-April 2004, 58 British had been killed, 17 Italians, and 11 Spanish.

Also see "The Toll of War" from NPR an interactive graphic with month by month statistics of US deaths.

The Chicago Tribune provided details for monthly US injuries.

The number of Americans killed in the first Gulf War of 1991 was 138.  During the 12 bloodiest years of Vietnam, 1961-1973, over 58,000 Americans were killed. In late May 2004, Thomas Ricks compares the casualties to other American wars.  Also see "Another Vietnam?" FAQ. 

Also see "The Toll of War" from NPR an interactive graphic with month by month statistics of US deaths.

The last six months of 2004 were the most deadly of the war, with 500 US soldiers killed. Other months became even more deadly.
The monthly breakdown included:

Also see the many details at "Iraqi Coalition Casualties Count". Also see a collection of photos of American coffins.

Also see "The Toll of War" from NPR an interactive graphic with month by month statistics of US deaths.

The former Sec. of Defense, Rumsfeld, would use the Chicago Tribune end of year 2007 statistics. Month by months deaths of Americans have gone down dramatically since the high of May 2007, when they peaked at over 100. In contrast, the number of US teenagers killed was over 400 for about half of the year.

In terms of Americans deaths, by late August 2003 more American had died since the President announced the end of "major combat" than had died during the war (138).  Many more American were being wounded, reported the September 2 Washington Post. Over 1100 had been wounded through the end of August.  Some historians saw parallels between August of 2003 and the bombing of American forces in Beirut in 1983.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30829-2003Aug22?language=printer

During "major combat" in April and May of 2003, fewer Americans died per month than were dying each month in the fall of 2006.

From March to August, 2003, 300 Americans had died and 1500 had been injured.  Until late August, the number of those injured was usually not reported by the Pentagon.  "Peace is Hell" is the Time magazine cover story in mid-July. By mid-October the numbers of Americans killed had risen to 325, as reported by the New York Times. A sadly typical mid-October day was when four more Americans were killed.    http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A39850-2003Oct17?language=printer
After a few week lull in car bombings, another one occurred in Baghdad on October 9. For more details and updates, see "Deaths" FAQ.

It was well known that the number of American deaths reached over 700 in April 2004.  Yet Deputy Sec. of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, in testimony before Congress, had lost count.  Wolfowitz guessed 500.

The reaction of Maureen Dowd of the Times was tough.  "This administration is the opposite of 'The Sixth Sense'.  They don't see any dead people.  Beyond the president's' glaring absence at military funerals; beyond the Pentagon's self-serving ban on photographing the retuning flag-draped coffins at Dover; beyond playing down the thousands of wounded and maimed American troops and the thousands of hurt and dead Iraqi civilians, now comes the cruel arithmetic of Paul Wolfowitz."  

Dowd continues, "...He froze the State Department out of the occupation and then mangled it...[he] doesn't bother to keep track of the young American who died for his delusion." In December 2005, Bush was asked how many Iraqis had died.  He replied, "about 30,000"

Other Pentagon reaction is putting a positive spin on the bad news.  Chairman of the Join Chiefs Richard Meyers, for example, described the April fighting as a "symptom of the success" of US forces.  "The sole intent" of the insurgents is to stop the transition of June 30.  One wonders if the violence will subside after June 30.  Unfortunately, the light at the end of the tunnel, in terms of violence, is not getting any brighter. 

April 2004 is the worst month ever for Americans, with over 130 dead and 64 killed in one week.  The previous high week was less than 50 in April 2003. 

In terms of allies, by mid-November the total number of British killed was 52, as well as 24 other allied troops.

The New York Times reported the 500th American death in mid-January, 2004. After 365 days of war, about 570 Americans had died.

In June 2004 we looked back at U.S. deaths in May at more than two per day, including over 200 Americans killed in April/May.  The number one cause was not suicide bombs but IED (Improvised Explosive Devise) along the roads. Details on "the numbers" are from the AP.  825 U.S. service men and additional non-service Americans  had died by June 10 and the figure topped 900 in July. 

The U.S. military death toll hit 1000 in September, after fewer than 18 months of war.  At one point 14 Americans died in two days.  

The bloodiest week in a year was the seven days leading up to Good Friday, early April 2004.  In combat alone, 40 Americans died. It was part of the greatest two-week loss since October 1971 in Vietnam.  

Also on that last day of April we learned that at least 10 more Americans died in one day, mercifully ending the most deadly month for the American military in over 30 years.

In late August 2004 the LA Times reported that post-June 30 Iraq is "just as deadly" to U.S. forces.  The article includes a pie graph and map. As the total of Americans killed approaches 1000, over 40 have been killed in each of the past 6 months.  August deaths totaled over two per day.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0831-22.htm

Total U.S. military deaths reached 1300 a few days before Christmas. 2004 would close with about 1325 Americans dead during the war, and 842 killed in the year 2004.  Ironically the number of Iraqi security forces killed in just the last four months of 2004 also totaled 1300.

1400 total U.S. military deaths were reached in January 2005.  About one week before the Jan. 30 election a helicopter crash contributed to the worst day for Americans in the entire 22 month long war.  37 died in one day.  Wounded totals were 10,600 Americans. US soldiers are dying at a rate of about two/day except during major offensives. 

An interactive Washington Post special is updated frequently. The total U.S. death toll hit 1500 on March 3, 2005, about two weeks shy of the two year anniversary of the beginning of the war.  Those Americans injured total about 11,200.  A CBS News story sees the number of US injured at a higher total of 16,000, as of spring, 2005.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/iraq/casualties/facesofthefallen.htm

The pace of US troops deaths has also risen, reports the front-page USA Today of July 1.  At least 882 troops died in the past 12 months, up from 657 in the preceding year.  In June alone, 79 US servicemen died, about the same as May. The two highest months remain April 2004 and November 2004, both over 130.  In both April and May there were over 135 car bombs. Insurgents tactics continue to adapt and can now penetrate heavily armored vehicles. 

August 2005 was the 3rd deadliest month of the war, the other two coming during major offensives in Fallujah.  At least 74 Americans died in combat.  The biggest killer continued to be roadside bombs.  One on August 3 in Haditha killed 14 marines, when an explosion flipped a 25-ton troop carrier designed for amphibious missions.  

On August 3, 14 deaths occurred from members of the Lima, Ohio (near Columbus) marines were killed by a roadside bomb, in the deadliest roadside bomb attack of the entire war. 

September 2005 wasn't much better.  9 Americans died in two days, five troops and four security personnel.  It is hard to get an accurate account of how many non-military Americans have died. 

The October count of 91 was the highest American deaths since January and #4 overall since the war began.  IED's caused 60% of the deaths.  Attacks were at 90 per day.

2007, though it had its good and bad months for Americans, became to be the deadliest year of the war by early November. There were about 850 by early November. 2004, the previously deadliest with Americans dying in Najaf and Fallujah, was the previous deadliest with 850. The US military explained this increase by the surge, in which soldiers are more often going into neighborhoods and leaving their bases. The military leadership feels the surge has improved security. In November the 85th US woman died. The good news was that only 38 Americans died in October, the lowest in a year. Officials feel the violence may have turned the corner. The average monthly death toll is 69.

American deaths were reduced in 2008. For example, the death of one American in April 2009 was the first in three weeks."The toll of war" is NPR's interactive chart from 2009. An American soldier killed five of his comrades on May 11. The shootings took place at Camp Liberty, at a clinic for those suffering from the stresses of war.

Do we know how many Iraqi civilians are dying?  In April 2003 reports were that about 1000 Iraqis died by mid-month, as compared to 90 Americans.  In Fallujah, probably 100-200 of these Iraqi deaths have been women, children, or older men (civilians).

A more dramatic study, appearing in the British medical journal, Lancet, was a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University and two other groups.  As of November 2004, they estimated the number of Iraqis killed was 100,000.  Some, especially in the U.S., debated their estimates, while others noted that they did not include any deaths in Fallujah from the fall of 2004  All told, only five households out of dozens refused to be questioned. The Pentagon does not release figures on civilians death estimates. During the campaign, Senator John Kerry did not label civilian deaths as one of the problems in Iraq. The chances of violent death were 58 times greater after the war than before.  Though the 100,000 number was widely reported, the estimate was certain that the deaths were between 8,000 and 194,000. This is a "wide confidence interval." They determined that 100,000 was the median and thus most likely.

The estimate did not even include Fallujah, where the researchers found an average of two deaths in every household, much higher than the national average. Les Roberts, in charge of the survey, was described by doctors he worked with in Iraq, as "obsessive" about the randomness of the sampling. Roberts disguised himself by growing a beard and blackening his hair. A Bosnian Muslim, was how he described himself to Iraqis. The researches randomly chose 33 neighborhoods throughout Iraq. In each of these neighborhoods, they picked a random point and then surveyed the 30 houses nearest to this point.

For NPR, Ira Glass' November 3, 2006 show on"This American Life", contained an interview of Les Roberts. . Roberts reminded listeners that the deaths were all Iraqis, not just civilians, as was reported in much of the press. Half of those killed were women and children. He further suggested that listeners also examine iraqbodycount.net and costofwar.com. Iraqi Body Count does not seem to estimate the number of Iraqi civilians injured, which one might guess is at least triple the number killed.

Roberts reminded listeners that the US dropped 50,000 bombs in the first 16 months of the war. In the planning for the war, any bombing that would likely kill 30 civilians or more, had to be approved by Rumsfeld or Bush. It is not clear how the 30 number came to be. Bomb sites were later checked by the US for accuracy but the accuracy of civilians death estimates was never checked, though the estimates had been carefully studied before the war.

The 100,000 report received very little press coverage, on the eve of the 2004 elections. No networks covered the story, except 21 seconds by NBC and 45 seconds by NPR.

Michael O'Hanlon of the Brooking Institute is dubious about the Lancet medical journal estimate in October 2004 of 100,000 Iraqi civilians.  A Human Rights Watch leader, who hadn't read the report, was pressed for a quote, and reacted naturally, that the number seemed high to him.

The US military ratio is 1 killed for every 7 injured. The American government does not publish any estimates of civilian deaths. In addition to the 1/3 killed by Americans, about 1/10 have been killed by insurgents, and 1/10 by "terrorists".  
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

Journalist and author on Iraq Andrew Cockburn pointed out in the LA Times (12/17/05) that the 100,000 figure would have been more accurate.  Iraq Body Count's admits that their estimates are low, because they are based purely on published press reports of combat related killings.  The group from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, whose study appeared in the British medical journal The Lancet, was highly regarded after its estimates of the Congolese civil war.  Despite the randomness of the 33 "clusters" visited, Fallujah was eliminated from the 2004 sampling.  The study was "intensively peer reviewed."  One of the members of the team told Cockburn that by now the number of "excess deaths...couldn't possibly be less than 150,000...There's no reason to be guessing.  We ought to know better." 

Assuming that this 100,000 number of Iraqis is accurate, how does this death rate compare to the '80s and 90s?

With a population of 24 million in Iraq, the 100,000 death toll would be an equivalent loss of 1.2 million Americans, the population of Dallas or San Diego or the equivalent of 400 World Trade Centers of 9/11.
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0314-27.htm

For more on the above chart, see "Mass Graves" and pre-war Sanctions

By March 2005, this civilian number was estimated at 133,000.; this is proportional to 1.3 million Americans killed.

In 2006, there were estimates of 650,000 Iraqi deaths. Again, Les Robert took criticism. In March 2008 he was still defending his tactics and estimates. He had done this work in seven other wars, including Bosnia and the Congo. In a Tribune interview, Roberts added that roughly 60% of the "accessive deaths" were from violence. The Iraqi government study estimated only 1 in 6 was due to violence. "This was completely out of step with morgue data from Baghdad and burial data from Najaf. It is easy to imagine that Iraqis might not admit to government employees that their loved one was killed by violence." Robert was asked why Americans should care how many people are dying. He responded, "First, it is very bad for our national security to have" the President say 30,000 when the Iraqi government is estimating four times more. "That drives a wedge between the people in the Middle EAst and us. Second, if our commander in chief know's know to within a factor of 4 or 10 how many Iraqis have died. how can we know if the surge has worked or not?...Third, and most important, is that this was a pre-emptive war. As a democracy, how do we assess if the costs outweighed the benefits if we do now know the true costs?" Roberts is repeatedly told that the Americans came to Iraq for oil. Iraq has about the same population as the greater New York metro area. So, the Iraqi government estimates that "they experience violent deaths equal to two 9/11 attacks per month." His own estimates are three times that high. "There is not question that hundreds of thousands have died. Which of our leaders has expressed contrition for this? I fear that pride and political bravado on this issue are creating a role for us in the world that is almost the opposite of how we see ourselves."

In the fall of 2007, this was over one million, or about 1.2 million Iraqis dead. Saddam deaths were generally estimated at 200-300,000. The Pakistani press picked up on the Saddam death's vs. war deaths in September 2007, arguing that the war has killed more Iraqis than Saddam. The Red Cross reminded us in November 2007 that at least 375,000 people were missing in Iraq.

"The toll of war" is NPR's interactive chart comparing all of the estimates of civilians killed and US troops killed.

What are cluster bombs?  (Also see pre-war analysis in "The War" FAQs)  In mid-December 2003 the mainstream U.S. media began to report on the use of cluster bombs which killed hundreds of civilians in the spring of 2003. The Post details such bombings in Hilla in March and the controversial military policy of such munitions.  Some cluster bombs do not explode and are left for curious children to play with or step on.

About 1500 cluster bombs using 2 million "bomblets" were used in the "major combat" of the war, and many were left unexploded, "littering the landscape, to be found by children."  The USA Today reported the official Pentagon figure was low and the real number was 10,782. At least 5000 Iraqi civilians were killed during the six weeks of "major combat"  according to preliminary studies, though the Pentagon does not make estimates.  Probably tens of thousands of Iraqi troops were killed, though the American mainstream press did not deal with this issue in 2003.

Derrick Jackson, syndicated in the Chicago Tribune, wrote on December 15 on "U.S. evades blame for Iraqi death" and various U.S. denials. 

UNICEF reported in mid-July 2003 that "more than 1000 children had been killed or injured in Iraq by abandoned weapons and unexploded ordnance, including cluster bombs, ammunition and surface-to-air missiles." Also see "The War" FAQs for descriptions of these weapons. Human Rights watch blames cluster bomb use more on the Army than Air Force.

The group Human Rights Watch released a study on December 12., 2003 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57869-2003Dec11?language=printer
The report "Off Target: The Conduct of War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq" states, according to the New York Times Thom Shanker, that "50 attacks aimed at senior Iraqi leaders failed to kill any of their intended targets, but resulted in dozens of civilian deaths."  A military spokesman emphasized the efforts to "take extraordinary care" to "limit needless loss of human life and collateral damage" (12/12/03, "Rights Group Faults U.S. Over Cluster Bombs")

Sadly, cluster bombs were still causing death, three years after they were first used.  In late March, one unexploded bomb killed a shepherd and a 6-year old boy.  In November of 2006 the Red Cross called for a ban on cluster bombs. Children are attracted to their bright color, yellow, and the parachute attached. Military advantages are outweighed, they feel. They can be as small as a flashlight battery. Typically, the Tribune reports, each bomb "scatters about 200 to 600 of the mini-explosives over an area the size of a football field." Up to 40% fail to explode on impact

Cluster bombs were used by Israel in the summer of 2006, against Lebanon. They were mostly purchased from the US. Used in civilian areas, unexploded "bomblets" killed dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds injured in the 3 months after the war ended.

More detailed analysis of cluster bombs in Iraq, Kosovo, and Lebanon were examined In These Times, "What We Leave Behind."

A proposed international ban on cluster bombs was rejected by the US in February 2007. 46 countries sought the ban.

The U.S. lied to the British about the Pentagon's use of napalm in Iraq in spring of 2003.  Photo is of results of napalm used in Vietnam.

The President gave four speeches leading up to the Dec. 15, 2005 elections.  In only the third, Dec. 12,  did he take questions.  The first questioner asked how many Iraqis had died.  The President replied, "about 30,000."  At the time, Iraq Body Count (see below) was estimating 27,000-31,000. I suggest his estimate is off by a factor of four according to a report in the British Journal Lancet of fall, 2004.

An example of the further use of US air power and the bombings effect on civilians was the story of January 3, 2006 that a "US Air Strike Kills Family of 12" from the Washington Post. 

Matthew Rothschild of The Progressive also comments on the President's 30,000 number and frames the Q and A session.  Since all civilian deaths are not reported, Iraqi Body Count realizes that their estimates are low.  "That is the sad nature of war," says IBC.  Rothschild feels that based on the Lancet estimate, the President is off by a factor of at least three.  "What will it take for Bush to grasp the meaning and the magnitude of 2140 dead US soldier and 30,000 dead Iraqis or more?  He has said over and over again that he came to liberate the people of Iraq and deliver them the gift of freedom.  But he didn't' liberate those 30,00 or those 100,000.  They didn't get to unwrap their gift, or if they did, it blew up in their faces.  Each dead Iraqi has a name.  Each dead Iraqi leaves a family that will never be the same again.  At what point does the President acknowledge the horrific pain he has inflicted on the people of Iraq?  Mentioning a mere number and then blithely moving on does not cut it.  Such indifference permitted their mass killing in the first place.  It should not be blanketed over them again." 

The sad news from the same week as Hurricane Katrina at the end of the summer of 2005 was of a disaster on a Baghdad bridge.  Over 900 Shiite pilgrims on the way to a mosque died when the crowd panicked, fearing an attack.  Most of those who died were women and children, trampled and suffocated.  There was sobbing and wailing inside hospitals. Iraq had reached "a new level of horror", reported the Times.  Al-Jaafari declared a three-day national mourning period. 

In June, 2005 the LA Times estimated that deaths had reached 50,000.

Could over 600,000 Iraqis have died in the war? Even the 100,000 estimate was drafted by a new study in October 2006. 655,000 Iraqi civilians have died in just over 3 years, estimated the University of Maryland Johns Hopkins study, paid for by MIT. The results were again published in The Lancet. In 2004 this group estimated 100,000 deaths in the first 18 months of war. The label this huge number as "excess deaths", over 90% who died a violent death. This is more than 20 times the estimate made by the President in December. This report feels that the "Iraqi Body Count" upon which Bush based his December estimate, and is now about 50,000, is too focused on Baghdad. The team of researchers estimated the country mortality rate to be about four times pre-war levels. Also see "The Human Cost of War" on Death descrepencies and refugees

These totals are "500 unexpected violent deaths per day,", reports the Washington Post on October 11. "Cluster sampling" is the research technique, which will surely come under criticism by supporters of the war. The vast majority of deaths were substantiated with death certificates. Of the 655,000, 600,000 were by violence. Guns caused 56% of the deaths, despite the media focus on the more spectacular car bombs. The results came from May 20-July 10, by visiting 1849 totally randomly selected households. Men were 10 times more likely to die than women. The risk of death in post-invasion Iraq is 250% higher than before the war.

US/UK forces, via direct shooting or air strikes, caused 31%. This would mean that 31% of 650,000 Iraqi deaths is 200,000 caused by coalition forces. The US and UK make up over 95% of coalition forces.

The full report in the medical journal The Lancet can be found in pdf format. The study actually estimates, within a range of 393,000 and 943,000, with 655,000 the midway point. The Tribune reports that the numbers include combat and civilian. Les Roberts defends the study he headed on NPR's Worldview in mid-March 2007.

Other detailed analysis comes from Middle East expert on University of Michigan professor Juan Cole. As Cole says, "This is a major civil war, with something close to 200,000 dying every year."

Reactions to the 650,000 death study came, as predicted, from the President and Pentagon. One reason given for why the study was faulty, according to a Pentagon leader, was that it was "much higher than any number I've seen." Bush said "the methodology is pretty much discredited" but is accepted in Darfur death estimates. "I do know that a lot of innocent people have died, and that troubles me and it grieves me."

Was the study actually faulty or biased? Some experts see problems, others say it is a good estimate. The Times feels the study underestimates Saddam-era deaths, but Juan Cole disputes this. Why would one lie about a pre-war death of a family member? Iraqi Body Count uses online media reports (and estimates about 50,000) but admits that these estimates are low, since not all deaths are reported. They doubt the new figures because it would mean that the media and Iraqi government and UN are vastly underreporting the number of deaths. If the 650,000 is correct, then 7% of the entire adult male population has been killed and half a million death certificates were received by families which were never officially recorded as having been issued. The IraqBodyCount concludes, "In the light of such extreme and improbably implications, a rational alternative conclusion to be considered is that the authors have drawn conclusion form unrepresentative data. In addition, total of the magnitude generated by this study are unnecessary to brand the invasion and occupation of Iraq a human and strategic tragedy."

The UN Assistance Mission uses deaths reported by Iraqi hospitals and morgues, about 6600 just in July and August.

Anthony Cordesman smells a rat, of the political variety, with the release four weeks from a US election. Cole wonders if Cordesman is arguing that "18,000 households from all over Iraq conspired to lie to John Hopkins University researchers for the purpose of defeating Republicans in US elections...Ironically enough, the same journalists who will question this study will accept without query the estimates for deaths in Darfur...which are generated by exactly the same techniques, and which are almost certainly not as solid."

Eugene Robinson opines in the Washington Post is "Counting the Iraqi Dead." He suggests we "take the time to look a bit more closely" at the Johns Hopkins study.

The Toronto Star, in mid-December 2006, examines Pentagon "undercounting" of Iraqi deaths.

What percent of Iraqi population is this loss of life? Since the war began, 650,000 excess deaths is about 2 1/2 % of the Iraqi population. With the U.S. hitting 300 million in October, 2 1/2% of US population would mean a loss of 7.5 million!

Les Robert defended his Lancet study for months after it was released. Appearing on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview in April 2008, Roberts compares his old 655,000 with the 100,000 Iraqi estimate. He feels the Iraqi Health Ministry is biased. It missed the very violent Anbar region.

For months in 2007, I was estimating that the total Iraqi death toll could be reaching or surpassing one million. This was confirmed in mid-September in a piece from the LA Times. Citing a British poll done of nearly 1500 Iraqis, the estimated death toll on Iraqis was 1.2 million. How does this compare to Rwanda or the Cambodian Killing Fields?

Another British poll, released in January 2008, concluded that over 1 million Iraqis have been killed since the US invasion of March 2003. 20% of the nearly 2500 interviewed had at least one death in their household in the war. The margin of error was 1.7 %. The estimate could be conservative (low) because 3 of the 15 provinces were missing, two are the most violent. At this point, the Iraq Body Count was at 80,000-88,000.

Yet another new study, released in January 2008 by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated civilians deaths through June 2006. Their estimate was 151,000 Iraqis killed. (halfway between the minimal range of 104,000 and the maximum of 223,000) If this estimate is current, the current numbers would be approaching or surpassing 200,000, because it does not include late 2006 and early 2007, the 12 most violent months of the war. What about empty houses, where killings have forced entire families to leave? There was also a 60% increase in non-violent deaths, probably mostly due to lack of medical care. The 150,000 estimate is about twice the oft-cited Iraqi Body Count, which works from media accounts. Some deaths are not reported in the news. More than half of the WHO deaths occurred in Baghdad.

How was the WHO study conducted? The interviewers were employees of the Iraq Ministry of Health. Those who went door to door were forced to skip some areas because they were too dangerous, such as in Anbar and parts of Baghdad. The Lancet study of 650,000 (through summer 2006) involved only 1/5 the number of households and 1/20th the number of areas.

Some Iraqis officials praised the new study and others criticized it.

Comment from the White House was that they had not seen the study and would not comment, except to say, "We mourn the deaths of all people in Iraq.'

NPR's Morning Edition's story on the Iraqi dead, from Feb. 2009, quoted the 100,000 figure and the old 600,000, but nothing more. "No one will ever know," the story concludes. The Iraqi government downplays the dead and lies. For example, a man at the Baghdad morque counted more dead in one day at his morgue than the Iraqi govenrment counted in the whole country. Iraqi Body Count counts the number of dead only if they are in the media accounts. Najaf is now the largest cemetary in the world, as it keeps increasing into the desert. It has grown three-fold since the war began.

From the Kuwaiti airport, the photographer of the this photo was fired. Memoryhole.org captures these and hundreds of other photos on their site.   The controversy became a top story on April 23 2004

The 300 photos similar to those above were not officially released until May 2005, following a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Americans woke up April 23, 2005 to see the picture at right on the front page of the New York Times.

"Dangerous Occupation/U.S. Deaths in Iraq" details all the names and numbers from MSNBC. 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3359080/
"Faces of the Fallen"  is a moving visual from the Washington Post. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/iraq/casualties/facesofthefallen.htm

Only in August of 2005 did the Pentagon agree to issue some photos of coffins, under terms of a legal settlement.  The case was a response to the Freedom of Information Act, under which the Pentagon had already, during 2005, been releasing photos.  The policy of not releasing photos had been in place since 1991 under President Bush during the Gulf War.  Under Clinton the policy was loosely enforced.  In 2003 and 2004 the majority of Congress supported President Bush policy.  The journalist/professor who brought the case was pleased and called it a "significant victory for the honor of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in war for their county, as well as for their families."  News organizations would probably not be allowed to take their own photos.

The reaction on the new coffin policy from military families was mixed. The Pentagaon assured families that "privacy and dignity" would be maintained. News organizations praised the change in the name of freedom of the press. The director of photography at AP commented, "I think what we had before was a form of censorship." Opponents of the old policy argue that it sanitzed the wars and was intended to "control public anger...This is a way for Americans to see and honor the sacrafice of our fallen when it occurs. It's something our public should be aware of." On the other hand, opponents of the new policy feel that antiwar groups are "going to politicize our fallen. What is the need to show these caskets, toher than to try to inflame controvsersy?"

A front page Chicago Tribune story "Lucky to be alive, but living in pain" described soldiers "who would have been killed in previous wars" but are surviving this one, "in part because of advanced trauma care on the battlefield and improved body armor.  But many are suffering severe injuries to their limbs, and their lives are irreparably altered" (3/16/04). About half of those injured are able to return to duty.  Others, who arrive on stretchers, are described by the U.S. executive director of the Baghdad facility:  "These injuries are horrific." 

Wounded were much less reported than deaths in most US media. Writes media critic and author Norman Solomon, "The upsurge of nearly wounded veterans would not be so potentially explosive in political terms if the public had confidence in the rightness of the Iraq invasion and ongoing war.  Why so many? Americans perceive that the war was built on a foundation of falsehoods, the war's architects are liable to find themselves on thinner and thinner domestic ice as time goes on." (3/13/05). 

Official number of injured in September is American military is 7000, a ratio of 1:7.  In Vietnam, the ratio was 1:2.6.  The most common cause of injuries was bombs and mines.  More on injuries is in the Post's "Wounds of War". 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A5451-2004Dec16?language=printer

During the week before 2004 Christmas (the announcement was delayed by the Pentagon until early January) we learned that over 10,000 wounded were the American total.  About 5400 of them are too wounded to resume their duties  

"The Cost of Staying the Course", a Post op-ed, looks at numbers of dead and wounded in Vietnam and World War II.  Brain Gifford reminds us that in World War II there were only 1.7 wounded for every death, and 2.6 wounded for every dead in Vietnam.  The Iraq War is 7.6 wounded.  'This means that if our wounded today had the same chances of survival as their fathers did in Vietnam, we would probably now have more than 3,500 deaths..."

Not until March 2008 was the injury of hearing loss highlighted, in the Chicago Tribune. Due mostly to roadside bombs, nearly 130,000 Americans from Afghanistan and Iraq have ear-related disabilities. Hearing damage is thus the #1 disability.

Back in November 2003 was the worst month for Americans killed.  February saw the fewest Americans killed since last March, under 15.  Many more Iraqis were killed than in the fall. The New York Times reported in March that 39% of Americans are being killed by improvised explosive devices, or IED's. (3/5/04).

In late March the front page of the New York Times reported that Senior American commanders "are publicly complaining that delays in delivering radios, body armor and other equipment have hobbled their ability to build an effective Iraqi security force" to replace U.S. troops (3/22/04).  Also see "Troops/Morale" FAQ.

In April alone, the new bloodiest month, more the 900 soldier and Marine were wounded, twice the number of October, the previous high.  Women deaths total 18, a sharp departure from previous wars. See more on US women below. 

On the last day of April, 2004 Nightline read the hundreds of names of the Americans killed, with accompanying photos, names, rank, and age.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/28/business/media/28TUBE-LONG.html?pagewanted=print&position=

The show was banned by at least 8 ABC affiliates, making it even more newsworthy and controversial.  Some compared it to Walter Cronkite turning against the Vietnam war in the late '60s or to the Life Magazine of the same period, showing pictures of the recently killed Americans. 

At least through early 2008, PBS's Newshour provides, in silence at the end of the show, photos and vital statistics of those Americans killed.

The Washington Post has a wonderful graphic explaining the effects of the insurgency below and at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/daily/graphics/iraq_security_123003.html

We don't often hear that US military contractors are free to roam the country and are not held accountable for civilians they kill.  This story, as of late 2005, was vastly unreported. For many more details on Blackwater, go to PZ Violence.

American civilians were also being killed or being taken hostage.  One high-profile example from April of 2005 is of US aid worker Marla Ruzicka.  She worked for Senator Leahy of Vermont to get aid for civilian victims.  As Leahy said, "Here's someone who at 28 years old did more than most people do in a lifetime."  The Times reported that on the day she was killed in an explosion, she was visiting Iraqi families "that had lost relatives...She sent a text message to a friend saying the stories had been painful to hear." Ruzicka's group is Civic Worldwide: The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict.

Reaction to Ruzicka's death came from a Tribune editorial and commentary from Bob Herbert. The former called her "an anti-war activist and a war-zone aid worker.  She soothed the fears of scared Iraqi kids and fearlessly stood up to politicians and gunmen...Her mission was to identify Iraqi and Afghan civilians harmed by US military actions and help them receive medical care and financial aid."  The paper summarized:  "Those who knew her couldn't help but be touched by her, and charmed too.  Maybe she was naive.  Maybe she courted danger.  But she did a lot of good.  She was a walking contraction but defined in her unique way what it means to be all-American." 

Bob Herbert, an Times critic of the war, wrote of Ruzicka on April 21:  "She would try to do what her government had refused to do.  She began personally gathering as much information as possible, often going from door to door in the war zones, sometimes covered by an abaya and a jihab, in an effort to document the destruction and the suffering.  Her goal was twofold.:  first to secure compensation for the relatives of innocent victims who were killed, and for the many thousands of noncombatants who have been wounded or displaced.  And, second, to get the US government to establish an office or agency, perhaps within the State Department, to collect date and report on the civilian casualties of war.  Herbert concluded by quoting Marla's father (a rock solid Republican) , "She had this calling and she pursued it with vigor.  She didn't do it for political gain or monetary gain.  She did it out of love.  I think her legacy will be to forever change the attitude of the US government and the US military on how they deal with collateral damage."

See much  more on violence since the January 2005 elections. 

In late December and early January 2004 the deaths were more often Iraqi police or Iraqi civilians rather than American troops. As U.S. troops pulled back and stayed in their bases more often, Iraqis were more frequently the victims.  For example, a bombing at a fashionable restaurant in Baghdad killed five. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45030-2003Dec31.html

Iraqi dead were US estimates of 1342 soldiers and police officers while on the job from June-February. Again, civilians were not estimated by the US.

Donald Rumsfeld likes to downplay American deaths by comparing the numbers to annual murders in D.C.  A former Illinois Congressman, the Secretary of Defense might also argue that in Chicago alone there were more murders in 2003 (about 600) than Americans killed in Iraq (about 480).  Or, Rumsfeld might point out that 600 deaths annually in Illinois are caused by drunk drivers.

We only learned on June 13, 2004 (front page NYTimes) what we had previously only surmised, that dozens of Iraqis civilians were killed and injured in the 50 attempts at so-called "high-value targets" (HVT), code for Iraqi political and military leaders.  These attacks of March/April 2003, were aimed at Hussein and his associates.  All of them failed, mostly due to poor intelligence.   A report form Human Rights Watch concluded that civilian casualties could have been prevented if the U.S. had taken extra precautions. Former Defense Intelligence Agency official and Human Rights Watch analyst , Marc Garlasco concluded that the "HVT" campaign was "an abject failure...We failed to kill the HVT's and instead killed civilians and engendered hated and discontent in some of the population."  One attack in the fist days of the war  included four 2000 pond satellite-=guided bombs and more than 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles. After this attack CIA director Tenet had told U.S.  officials he was certain that Hussein had been killed. 

Reports in the spring of 2004 were from Civic, a non-profit group, which estimated that more than 5000 Iraqi civilians were killed from March to May 1, 2003, according to the New York Times.  (3/17/04). The Iraqi interior ministry estimates that 500 Iraqi civilians had been killed by American forces since the "end of major combat."  Under U.S. guidelines, compensation to Iraqis is up to $1000 per injury and $2500 per life.  According to U.S. authorities, many of these deaths are at checkpoints.  Commented the manager of homicide statistics for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, "These soldier are so nervous that whenever I see a checkpoint, I drive the other way.  And that's me.  I work with Americans.  I'm still scared" (NYTimes, 3/20/04). 

I have read estimates of Iraqi soldiers killed during "major combat" in the spring of 2003 of about 5000.  "Iraq Body Count" is an oft-quoted web source at http://www.iraqbodycount.net/.  This site bases its count only on press reports; many areas of Iraq are not reported on.  For example, U.S. forces closed the Fallujah hospital before their offensive of November.  There were those no reports of deaths or injuries from hospital personnel.  For a time, Iraqi officials kept count, but that was stopped, reportedly over objections by US authorities. Iraqi Body Count's total in the summer of 2005 reached 23,000 Iraqis and 30,000 by the end of 2005. Iraqi Body Count co-authored a study with the Oxford Research Group putting the Iraqi death toll at 25,000 in mid-July, 2005.  The US military has been responsible for 37% of civilians deaths, while insurgents for 9%.  See further details of Iraqi Body Count. through March 2005. 
Another useful and details site details deaths/ wounded.
Also see the BBC's special "counting the dead."

In July 2004 over 700 civilians were killed in Baghdad alone.  During a 30 day period of May, 2005 another 700 Iraqis were killed.  It was not until June of 2005 that the Iraqi interior minister first gave an official count to the Iraqis killed.  Mr. Jabr told the media that 12,000 Iraqis had been killed in the past 18 months of the insurgency.  This averages to about 20 people every day through June of 2005
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/02/AR2005060201098_pf.html

In 2005, nearly 1500 Iraqi police officers were killed and 3200 were wounded.  In the first two weeks of January 2006, nearly 40 have been killed. 

In May 2005 nearly 700 Iraqis died. These numbers were updated by Iraqi Body Count, who estimated in July that in just the first two months of the war, 25,000 Iraqi civilians had died.  They estimate by cross-checking press accounts.  We don't know how many deaths are not reported in the press or are mis-reported. We know that thousands have died since March 2005. About 1/3 were killed by Americans, mostly in the first few months of the war. Half of those killed have been from Baghdad, and the next biggest death toll (based on population) is Falluja and Tikrit.  At least 1300 children have been killed, mostly in the early months by cluster bombs.  From the first to the second year of the war, the number of civilians deaths doubled. 

These 25,000 Iraqis killed is 34 every day for the two years ending in March 2005.  1/5 were women and children. 

Also see the BBC's special "counting the dead."

Suicide bombings were frequent throughout February 2005 and beyond, with 10 or more being killed and 50 or more being wounded on several occasions. The horrific early March 2 bombings at Karbala and Baghdad killed hundreds more Iraqi Shiite pilgrims. In April there were frequent reports of days where 20, 30, or 40 Iraqi "insurgents" were killed every day, especially in and around Fallujah. Beheadings and kidnappings continued daily. The U.S. regularly reported numbers of "enemies" killed but rarely counted the Iraqi civilians. This counting changed by late 2005. The dead and wounded estimates almost always increase within 1-2 days of the attacks. In some cases, the chart below may be underestimates. These are the largest mass bombings.

Also see "2005 Violence" FAQ. 
See Post-Zarqawi Violence, 2006-09

**Especially after the bombing of the Shiite Golden Mosque in February 2006, much of these killings were murder/assassinations, rather than just suicide and/or car bombers.

Also see Iraq Body Count.

New news of Iraqi deaths came to light in July 2005 following repeated inquires from the New York Times to Iraq's Interior Ministry.  In their front-page story of July 14, we learned that from August 2004 to May 2005 about 8200 Iraqis were killed by insurgents, a rate of over 800 per month.  These figures do not include either Iraqi solders or civilians killed during American military operations.  Commented Human Rights Watch, "it show the toll Iraqi civilians are paying for their freedoms."  About 1/3 of the deaths occurred in Baghdad, with the Sunni Anbar province and Najaf rating second and third.  The Times adds, "In the two months after the Shiite-led government was announced, insurgents killed more than 1500 Iraqis, a number approaching the total of American troops killed since the start of the war two years ago.  Even attacks with small death counts tear through the lives of many people....Deaths at the hands of Americans are statistically fewer, but far from uncommon...A lot of incidents go unreported."

Americans shot the Iraq police officer in charge of the major crimes unit.  From his hospital bed, the Brig. Gen. said, "The reason they shot us is just because the American are reckless.  Nobody punishes them or blames them."  Officially, US forces kill an average of one Iraqi civilian every two days, reported the Chicago Tribune on July 29.  This does not include incident that occurred outside Baghdad or in situations that were not reported. The police general appointed by the US added, "Of course, the shooting will increase support for the opposition.  The hatred of the Americans has increased.  I myself hate them."  Though the US says it investigates these shootings, no soldier has been disciplined for shooting a civilian at a checkpoint or in traffic, says a US military spokesman. 

"Horrors" are described for the November Fallujah fighting  by a navy corpsmen working in a field hospital. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8612-2004Nov23?language=printer

In a not so atypical US air attack in March 2006, 4-13 civilians were killed, including women and children. 

Media also were adding "psychologically damaged" to the wounded/amputee numbers, now in the tens of thousands.  Post-election polls of mid-March show that 70% say US casualties are an unacceptable price.

A rare Chicago Tribune editorial highlighting the deaths and injuries appeared on July 25.  The piece quotes military expert Anthony Cordesman, "In some ways, what you count is what you value.'  US led troops and the US government in conjunction with Iraq government ministries should keep detailed figures on Iraqis killed and wounded.  These figures should be made available, in a timely manner, to the public both in Iraq and the United States. 

In the Chicago area, the Pioneer Press ran 2nd anniversary coverage which included the 13 service person killed in the northern and northwest suburbs have died.  Among those were two from Glenview and one from Lake Forest.  Two of the soldiers had previously attended Glen brook South High School, and graduated in 1995.  Through 2005, I've not read of any fatalities among graduates of New Trier, Evanston, or Highland Park.  In June an Elgin High School graduate was killed.  Leaving four children, he had graduated in 1986.

In Illinois, as of April 2005, WBEZ radio reported that 70 from our state have been killed as well as 500 injured. 

Also among Chicago area deaths, a young marine from Lisle, IL was killed in early February 2006  and a Streamwood Marine in Anbar Province was killed in May. Ryan Cummings grew up in Crystal Lake. In August a 22 year old from Naperville was killed. He had graduated from Nequa Valley High School in 2002. The October deaths, highest in a year, included a graduate of Downers Grove High School. Marine Thomas Gilbert was 24 and attended Western Michigan after his 2000 high school graduation. November brought the death of a graduate of Niles West '98. The Skokie native was 26 and coached at Maine East.

Who are our troops dying?  Many Americans believed that they are poor minorities who dominate the casualties.  The Center for American Progress suggests otherwise.  The majority of the dead are mostly white men in the mid-20s from working-class communities that are neither disproportionately poor nor rich.  Of those killed, 72% are white, and about 11% Hispanic and African-American.

The Chicago Tribune, in 2003 and 2004, wrote details, memories and stories on individual soldiers who had died. They stopped this reporting, it seems, in 2005.  Some readers missed the personal coverage.

In October 2006, came the death of Edwardo Lopez, a 21 year old soldier from Aurora, Illinois.

In November Kraig Foyteck, 26, of Skokie, was buried at Maryhill Cemetery in Niles.

A graduate of Wheaton Warrenville High School was the latest death in February 2007 Captain Kevin Landeckr, 26, was killed by a roadside bomb. The front page Chicago Tribune of Feb. 13, had a large picture of flag waving elementary children from his old school. The article was entitled "Kids confront war's pain."

Later in February we learned of the death of Pedro Colon, 25, a graduate of Morton East High School.

March brought the death of a soldier from Roselle.

April brought soldiers killed from Aurora (East Aurora High School) and from St. Charles.

The Memorial Day Chicago Tribune published a map the "hometown of the fallen." (5/27/07). The top two cities were New York (58), followed by not LA, but San Antonio (34). Chicago had a relatively few 9 deaths, including Arlington Heights, Wheaton, Cicero, Roselle, Aurora, and St. Charles.

Two more local soldiers died in August 2007. Philip Brodnick of Warrenville, IL had his Black Hawk crash. The same day the son of of Chicago firefighter, Omar Torres died. The two graduated from Lincon-Way Central adn De La Salle Institute. Brodnick spent a year at Ohio State before joining the military.

In November of 2007 an Elmhurst soldier, Frank Vanek died in Baghdad. The York Community High School graduate, now 23, was on his 3rd tour.

In late Febary 2008, Albert Bitton was killed when his Humvee was hit by an IED in Baghdad. Bitton grew up in West Rogers Park, and graduated from Ida Crown Jewish Academy in 2005.

In June of 2009, a 23 year old from Salem, IL was announced killed

Deaths by age was also published in this Tribune. The most popular age of those dying was age 21, followed by 20, and then 22. Over 200 19 year olds have been killed. At least 50 of every age year have died, except for 18 and over 37.

Three American women were killed in one day, the largest number during the war.  The June 23, 2005 attacks reminded as that women are not supposed to be used in combat roles, but, write John Burns and Eric Schmitt for the Times,  "The Iraq war is a conflict without a defined front line."  the women died in Iraq through 2005.   Bush had commented after the deaths, "It's hard to stop suicide bombers."  The Defense Department assured us that they had been adequately protected.  However, only in December did we learn that these Fallujah women were poorly protected. The front page Times story, (12/20) based on interviews, documents, and photographs, reveals the opposite.  The women were sent off with "substandard armor" and "inadequate security."  Also see Troops/Morale FAQ.

On October 25, 2005, the official American military toll (not including contractors) reached 2000 Americans dead.  Of those, the Guard and Reserve death toll had doubled since last year.  At one point this year more than half of the combat forces were National Guard.  Over 15,000 Americans have been injured.  Many of these injuries are so serious that they would have resulted in death in a previous war.  Only in 2006 did I read about the seriousness of so many of the injuries.  Nearly half of those injured cannot return to duty. This interactive map shows were in the U.S. these soldiers are from.

On May 28, 2006 the Chicago Tribune added graphics to their coverage, "A Mounting Toll". California and Texas have both lost over 230 soldiers, whereas, predictably, the Dakotas and Vermont have lost fewer the 20. 107 Illinois military have been killed. More than half of those killed are under age 25 , 60 are women

Reactions to the 2000 mark came mostly from critics of the war.  One, Matthew Rothschild, is editor of The Progressive.  His short piece is "The Dreadful 2000 Mark."  "So he mentioned September 11 five times.  And he mentioned Osama bin Laden three times.  And bin Laden's deputy, Zawahiri, four times. Zarqawi six times...But there will be no complete victory...It's a quagmire at best, a losing battle at worst....And we, nonviolently, must stop him." 
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views05/1027-28.htm

Within a week of the infamous 2000 mark, a scary Halloween dawned with the news of six Americans killed in one day.

As Congress and Jack Murtha engaged in a furious debate about Iraq in the week following the President's Veterans Day 2005 speech on "rewriting history," (see "US Politics '05") nine Americans were killed in the pre-Thanksgiving weekend. Over 100 Iraqis also died, part of the 270 Iraqis that had died in about one week.

On December 3, 10 Marines were killed, the worst attacks on Americans in four months. 
On December 11, five were killed and 11 wounded.

Rep. Jack Murtha was back in the news in May 2006 , when he called attention to an ongoing Pentagon report concluding that the November 19 killing of more than a dozen civilians was intentional.  It did not involve a firefight or IED. Murtha said, "They killed civilians in cold blood...One man was killed with an IED.  And after that, they actually went into the houses and killed women and children."

This story had new revelations just a few days earlier, when it was announced that the war crime involved the killing of 24 Iraqis, among them women and children.  Reports show that Marines lied about the action that November day. One lie was that only 15 Iraqis died, as a roadside bomb exploded their bus. As Murtha said, "There was no bus." Later the story changed to say they were caught in a crossfire. An investigation was only ordered in February following a Time magazine article. 

Also see "Troops/Morale" on US troop killings of civilians

Could this became the My Lai Massacre of the Iraq War?  See much more on comparisons to Vietnam. 

icasualties.org breaks down deaths in various, unique categories.

The "death" news of 2006 followed the December 15 elections included the bizarre statistic comparing US deaths in the past two years
2004:  845;   
2005:  841
Most American deaths of 2005 were from homemade bombs.  

By comparison, at the height of the Vietnam War, 500 were killed and wounded each week.  Back during World War I at the Battle of the Somme, about 580,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded on just the first day.  

January 2006 proved especially violent for Americans.  11 Americans died on January 5, the most in over a year (Dec, 2004 in Fallujah).  5 deaths came the next day.  Then, when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed, either from bad weather or being shot down, 12 Americans died. It crashed near midnight in a hostile area near Mosul and the Syrian border. The story was on the front page of both the Tribune and New York Times, but was only the lead story in the Tribune. The total US dead: 17 in 24 hours.  One year ago 31 Americans died in a crash.  The helicopter crash appeared the day before Judge Alito was to appear before the US Senate. With the Alito story and the Iran nuclear story, Iraq  was not on the front page of either the Tribune or New York Times on January 11, 2006. 

A second and third helicopters crashed in the first two weeks of January.

In early January early 200 Iraqis died in two days of attacks.  The Iraqi Interior Ministry estimated that 4000 Iraqi civilians died in 2005. Also see "Violence" FAQ.

February did not start off any better for American troops.  Five were killed in one day, February 2. Seven Americans were killed in one day during the hours following the Samara sacred mosque bombing.  (see Violence FAQ)

Also see the BBC's special "counting the dead."

2005 was somewhat less deadly for Americans than was 2004, as the forces stayed at their bases more with Iraqi forces on patrol more often.  In 2004, about 59 Americans were killed every month and 665 injured.  The rate of US deaths declined from October 2005 to February 2006. 

The number of Americans killed declined from 55 in February 2006 to 29 in March, the lowest in two years.  Combat deaths declined for the fifth consecutive month. However, already 10 Americans were killed in just the first weekend of April, 2006.  April continued to reverse a positive trend, as more Americans were killed in the first two weeks than in all of March. Over Earth Day weekend in late-April, 8 Americans were killed.  In late August, 9 soldiers were killed.

Over a five day period in early October, 23 Americans were killed, with 8 GI's killed in Baghdad in one day, the most since 2005. 27 Americans died in one week in early October. The priority over the past few months had been to secure Baghdad, with a doubling of US troops. Suicide bombing in Baghdad have hit a new record. An especially bad day in October (17) resulted in 10 Americans being killed in one day. This is one of the worst days since the spring of 2003. November 3 brought the announcement of seven Americans killed. The first weekend of December reported 13 killed, as we approached the 2900 total. 11 Americans died on December 7, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Also see chart toward to top of this page. In the fall of 2006, 2/3 were killed outside Baghdad, mostly in Anbar Province. For the quarter ending in November, deaths and injuries of US and coalition are still 25 a day.

Another perspective on the numbers of US killed shows us that by late September 2006, more Americans were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan than on 9/11. By October, over 3000 Americans had died in both wars.

As the chart toward the top of this page shows, US deaths increased each month from July to August to September to October. Also see "Post-Zarqawi Violence '06"

As December 2006 began as deadly as October and November for Americans, I was sadly able to predict that the 3000th US death would likely come around the time of Christmas. It takes about 14 months for each 1000 to be killed. Some were on the sixth deployment. This day arrived on January 1, 2007, with a Times headline, "3000 Deaths in Iraq, Countless Tears at Home." Also see the interactive feature "Faces of the Dead." December was the third deadliest month of the nearly four year war. Some sources feel that there are more than 3000 "killed in Iraq" because those injured who are flown to Germany and die there may not be counted.

Which Americans are dying? 69 of those total killed have been women. About 55% are from the Army and over half are under the age of 25. Racially, those killed represent the approximate percentages of the US population. About 45% percent of deaths are now caused by IED's. Those killed in Anbar have doubled since the first year of the war. 20% die outside of combat, often in driving or weapon accidents. 93 have died from suicide. Of those wounded, 90% have survived. Many more would have died in previous wars, but long awaited body armor and medical advances have protected soldiers from death. The ratio of dead to wounded was about 3:1 in World War II, and 1:1 in the Civil War. More soldiers now are coming home with serious injuries to their limbs, spines, and brains. We learned in the fall of 2007 that the deaths in red states was 20% higher than in blue. Vermont is the highest per capita (29/million) while the lowest is 9/million. In terms of age, 1/6 of those who die are too young to have a beer.

Between Bush's "surge" speech and his State of the Union came the sad news of a helicopter crash killing 13 Americans. This was certainly the worst day for Americans of the three week old year of 2007 and the highest one day deaths in two years. The weekend deaths of 27 were the worst in a year. This came on the eve of President Bush's State of the Union speech. The Black Hawk went down due to enemy fire. 30 Americans were killed in a similar crash back in January of 2005, the worst day since March 23, 2003. In total, 36 died that day. Six US helicopters were lost in just three weeks of January and early February, 2007. At least five were shot down. Many have sophisticated antimissile technology but can be vulnerable to conventional weapons.

Along with the latest helicopter being shot down came a new development of late-January. Insurgents dressed in US uniforms, drove US-like trucks to the provincial governor's office in Karbala during a US meeting with local officials. Several Americans were killed. Insurgents more commonly impersonate Iraqi security forces. A few days later we learned that the Americans had actually been kidnapped and murdered, execution style.

Then came another helicopter crash, this time involving US security emplyees. They were shot execution style after they survived the crash. We recalled a few years ago other Blackwater employees killed, burned, and hung at a Fallujah bridge.

The worst day in a month was on March 5, when 9 Americans were killed. During the March weekend leading to the fourth anniversary of the war, 7 Americans were killed and we passed the 3200 figure. With the "surge" seven weeks old in early April, the highest two-day total of Americans killed, 10, was registed over the Easter weekend.

On April 24, 9 Americans were killed in one attack. April became the highest death toll of Americans in 2007.

Another especially bad day was May 6, when the deaths of 12 Americans were announced. 10 Americans were killed, ironically enough, on Memorial Day making May the deadliest month in 2 1/2 years. Thus, from Memorial Day 2006 to Memorial Day 2007, a total of 972 Americans died.

Noxious gas from a bomb killed 17 Americans in early June outside a US base. 22 were wounded. Fourtenn more died in late August when a Black Hawk crashed, the deadliest crash in over 2 1/2 years.

Mid-January 2008 brought the deadliest day since November, when six soldiers were killed in a boody-trapped house. Three weeks later, five died in one day.

Also see "Post-Zarqawi Violence 2006" FAQ

How many US allies are dying? Allies total sess than 10% of US deaths, with Britain leading at 126. 10-33 have been lost by Italy, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, and Spain. About 10 other countries have lost at least one soldier in the past four years.

How are Americans injured counted? Apparently, the counting varies, on a Pentagon web site. The new numbers are lower by 16,000 because they don't count those killed in nonhistile injuries. We learned in early Feb. 2007 that some count only battle injuries and others count all injuries while in Iraq, such as illnesses which develop in the war zone and auto accidents. Is the correct number about 20,000 or more like 50,000? Of the 1.4 million troops who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, the Times reports that over 200,000 have sought care from the veterans' agency and about 75,000 sought treatment for mental problem like PTSD. The LA Times reported the total injuries had reached 50,000. Many casualties are no "war wounds." 2007 began like 2006, with the most common cause of death among Americans being roadside bombs. Is it realistic for Americans to travel on the roads less often?

For about two weeks in late February and early March 2008, there were no Americans killed, according to Scott Simon of NPR. Just the day I was typing the above sentence, eight Americans died in one day, 5 in one bombing. It was the deadliest attack in months. The March 11 headlines detailed the attack, of soldiers confident enough to get out of their armored humvees and be on foot patrol.

As the US deaths approached 4000 in March 2008, polls showed that even fewer Americans know how many Americans have been killed. Polls asked if the total number of US killed was 2000, 3000, 4000, or 5000. 11% answered 2000; 35% believed 3000; 28% answered correctly and 24% guessed 5000. The reported success surge seemed to some as about to unravel as fewer Americans stay informed about the violence.

In mid-March the "surge success" in reducing violence appeared to be ending. Whereas violence was down from about November to January, violence increases began in February and broadened even more in March. For example, in one week of mid-March, 13 US solderis were killed.

The Chicago Tribune, in honor of the 4000s death, remembers the soliders with pictures, memorials, and a search process by name, state, or home base.

In terms of Iraqis killed, 8300-12,000 Iraqis were killed in the 12 months ending February 2006. The rate of deaths is three times that of 2004, even though many deaths and injuries going unreported. In addition, the US estimates that about 4000 Iraqi police died and more than 8000 wounded in the two years ending in the fall of 2006. General Peterson, who released these figures in early October, emphasized "tremendous progress" as 2006 was designated "year of the police" in Iraq. Anbar Province has been "cleared out", Peterson said. But solving problems takes time. "This is like trying to build an airplane in flight." Early numbers of Iraqis killed in Baghdad were too low, according to the UN. They estimate over 5100 violent deaths in Baghdad alone in July and August. Many Iraqis were being tortured. The number of  large-scale attacks (where 10 or more Iraqis died)  more than doubled from 2004 to 2005. See the above chart for casualties and linked articles, since every bombing is not detailed here. In another Shiite mosque bombing in mid-April, at least 71 were killed and 140 more injured.  Shiite religious leaders asked Shiites not to respond. Overall, the attack was the 12th major attack on Shiite civilians since the Najaf bombing of August 2003.  In at least nine attacks, over 60 have died.  The Tribune's front page detailed, with a map, the "Attacks targeting Shiites."

Burial rights for Iraqis are especially challenging.  The ritual is to wash the body, dress them in ceremonial clothing, and bury them the same day as their death.  Those who perform this service are overwhelmed, as we heard on NPR's Morning Edition of April 24. 

Into May, about 40 bodies arrive at Baghdad's central morgue each day.  Reports the LA Times (5/8/06), "In the previous three years, the killings were indiscriminate, impersonal," mostly from bombs.  Now the killings are "systematic, personal" mostly by masked gunmen.  "Targeted killings now take "nine times more lives" than car bombs.  The majority of recent deaths have been Sunni.  The morgue statistics for deaths, 3800 killed just in Baghdad in the first three months of 2006, are low because "those who die in bombs or are shot during gunfights between insurgents and security forces generally aren't brought in for an autopsy at the central morgue."

One day in early May, 70 corpses arrived in the Baghdad morgue in just six hours.  This was high, even by Baghdad standards. On May 14, nine bombs exploded in Baghdad, the worst violence in weeks.  At least 35 Iraqis were killed.  Two Americans also died that day.

On a day in mid-June at least 80 bodies were reported to the Baghdad morgue. The fall of 2006 was even worse. The Baghdad morgue, surely un reporting some deaths, gave us 1800 deaths in just October. In November the morgues were "full." "We just don't have enough cold storage." One man was told to look for his brother among 20 bodies. "The clerk told me to dig through them until I found my brother. I had to lift them off until I found him." Most of the dead are mutilated by torture. There is a great fear leading to anonymous burials. 1600 bodies were turned into the morgue in October.

Also see "Post-Zarqawi Violence 2006" FAQ and also see the many details at "Iraqi Coalition Casualties Count" and Iraqi Coaltion Body Count

Iraqi civilians reported killed per month, mostly based on UN and/or Iraqi estimates (Iraqi government totals are assumed to be too low; the Iraqi Health Ministry stopped counting civilians deaths)

In June 2006, there were about 100 Iraqis reported to be killed each day.This would lead to 36,000 for the year. Many deaths are likely unreported. Around Baghdad, most deaths were from militia and sectarian in nature. A sadly typical day in August was when the reported of deaths killed at least 44 people. On another day in September, 62 bodies were found in one day in Baghdad. In October and November, some reported were over 120. In fact, for the month of October, an average of 125 Iraqis were killed every day, according to the UN.

Through periods are sovereignty, assembly, and constitution, violence has steadily increased. From February 2006 to September, Iraqi security force casualties have taken the largest increases, according to the Pentagon.

Maliki criticized the UN death estimates and his government stopped publishing them in September. The US military also criticizes the figures, but does not release its own statistics. The UN uses morgues and death certificates, which probably underestimate the true death toll. For examples, those wounded who die over 24 hours after an attack are not counted. In October, the UN concluded that 3/4 of all deaths were in Baghdad though it is only 1/4 of the population. Last year, the majority of those killed were Shiites in bombings. The Pentagon in December estimated that there were over 1000 "sectarian executions" in October.

UN estimates of Iraqi deaths are higher than the official Iraqis totals, and are based on the Baghdad morgue, the Ministry of Health, and the Medico Legal Institute. The UN estimates are of nearly 28,000 deaths in the first 10 months of 2006.

In October 2006 11 TV employees were killed, the most deadly attack on the news media since the war began. The gunman, as is often the case, were wearing police uniforms. Of the 118 journalists killed in the war, most have been Iraqis.

"By Whom The Toll is Counted" is a November article about a man who keeps track of deaths in Iraq.

Even the Iraqi government admitted to 12,000 civilians being killed in 2006. Twice as many US soldiers died as Iraqi soldiers. The UN release its estimate of 34,000 Iraqis killed in 2006, about 94 every day, triple the figure from the Maliki government. The government estimates 12,000 Iraqi police officers have been killed since the war began. The US government, as always, did not release any estimate. By the UN estimate, 6000 were killed in just the past two months. Most were killed by gunshots in exucution-style. Death squads are both Sunni and Shiite. The UN mentions the obvious that there is "no accountability" for crimes, leading to more crime. Those least able to confront the violence are the poor.

Monthly details were not always available, but the morgue in Baghdad (other morgues don't often get reported) showed 600 bodies in May from just sectarian violence. We aren't sure what percent of bodies end up at the morgue. Clearly, by May 2007, the beginning of the February surge "lull" in sectarian killing was no more.

The most deadly attack of the war came on Thanksgiving Day in the slums of Sadr City as 161 were killed in a series of five bombings. Three suicide bombers blew up their cars in 15 minute intervals starting at 3pm. Earlier that day, Sunni insurgents had laid siege to the Shiite-run Health Ministry in Baghdad, where it took US forces two hours to arrive. Sadr City is the huge Shiite slum, allied with Sadr and named after his father. Space ran out at the morgues and bodies were piled into refrigerated trucks usually used for carrying food. Over 230 died that day throughout the country. The Shiite run Interior Ministry put the Sadr City death toll at 202 killed.

Despite a curfew and while Shiite leader Sistani denounced the attack and called on the people to control themselves and not react "outside the law," Shiite revenge was swift. Sunni mosques were bombed and one was burned down. In addition as six Sunnis were leaving Friday prayers at mosque they had gasoline poured over them and set on fire, while Iraqi police watched. The police claimed it was not their responsibility but the Army's turf and US forces showed up late.

The day will no doubt be compared to the Samarra bombing of February this year. In revenge, Sunni Imam's were gunned down. This deadly day in Sadr City remind one of the other two most deadly attacks, detailed above. March 2004 in Baghdad and Karbala left 181 killed while Hillah in Feb. 2005 killed at least 122.

Reaction to the new violence came from a White House spokesman: "It is an outrage that these terrorists are targeting innocents in a brazen effort to topple a democratically elected govern, and it is not going to work."

How does the violence compare to Americans dying at home? Rumseld long held that though each life is a sad loss, more Americans die in car crashes. Ted Koppel pointed out in his NPR commentary in late May that while nearly 3500 Americans have died in Iraq over 4+ years, that same number die every month in car crashes in the U.S. Yet, we continue to drive our cars.

A new "record" was set in the last weekend of January 2007 when 300 Iraqis died in a battle at an orchard near Najaf. Ashura commemorates the 7th century death of Muhammad grandson, Hussein, and is once of the most important holidays for Shiites. On the eve of Ashura, the alleged plot was to occupy the Imam Ali mosque, target Shiite clerics, including Ayatollah Sistani and kill Shiite pilgrims headed for Karbala. These "soldiers of heaven" were well armed, with machine guns, were digging tunnels, and setting up blockades. US F-16s were called in, dropping 500 pound bombs.

In April the Iraqi government started to refuse to give numbers of deaths. The UN did continue. The Baghdad morgue was reporting 400-500 bodies a week through the month.

Amazingly, we learned after a few days that the soldiers of heaven are actually not mostly Sunni, but a Shiite group. We were reminded that Shiites have been fighting Shiites, just as Sunnis have been fighting Sunnis in parts of Iraq. This Shiite "messianic" group believes that their missing imam, gone since 874CE at age 5, will return, with Jesus, when chaos reigns. He will restore peace and justice. The Mahdi Army militia is named for this "hidden imam."

Then, the story changed again, with Iraqi authorities alleging that the leader was either backed by a Sunni pretending to be Shiite and backed by Iran or was Sunni al-Qaeda. Charges were that the militia was led by Ahmad bin al-Hassan. Evidence was unclear. Some Iraqis charge that scores of innocent Iraqis were killed in the bombings. Bodies of women and children were reported at the hospital. Najaf, were this battle took place, was considered one of Iraq's success stories. Author Rashid Khalidi claimed on NPR that those killed were Shiites. They were the "wrong" kind of tribe, not allied with Iran.

Some stories don't change, they are just not reported. For example, into 2007, both Iraqis and Americans refuse to estimate the number of Iraqi civilians killed. The UN estimate from early 2007 was that nearly 35,000 Iraqis died in 2006, nearly 100 every day.

At least 300 more were injured and 130 died in the single bloodiest bomb of the nearly four-year war. The Baghdad truck of Feb. 4, 2007, ripped through scores of shops and flattened apartment buildings. The crater left by the bomb was 15 feet by 10 feet and 5 feet deep. About one ton of explosives was the fourth major attack in Shiite areas in about 20 days, killing about 400.

Another US helicopter was shot down during this 15 hour battle. The US used attack Apache helicopters and F-16 fighters, as well as British fighter jets. 500 pound bombs were dropped. Still, official Iraq forces were not able to advance. Iraqi authorities said that most of those killed were "militants." Najaf had recently been turned over to Iraqi security forces.

The deadliest attacks in a month were against Shiite pilgrims were on their to Karbala to ironically commemorate the end of 40 days of mourning the death of Imam Hussein, Mohammed's grandson. Hussein was killed at Karbala in 680 AD. One million Shiites were expected in the holy city on one day, some traveling as much as five days by food. Lured by cakes, 115 died in two suicide bombers in coordinated attacks, and nearly 150 died throughout the bloody day of March 6. Over 200 were wounded. Waving flags, the Shiites made easy targets. Said distraught survivors, "I saw women and children getting blow up and torn to pieces...Women were screaming and weeping, children were crying...We were seeing corpses, heads, limbs flying around." The Times report added, "The explosion left blood and hunks of human flesh covering the ground and stuck to the facade of the shops." Shiites blamed police who had stopped the pilgrims from doing their own searches. Will the Mahdi Army, quiet in Baghdad, feel the need to respond?

Chemical weapons in the form of chlorine were started to be used in January and February of 2007. The greenish gas used in World War I burns the skin and if fatal with a few breaths. Survivors of these "dirty bombs" are sent to hospitals coughing and wheezing. The larger bomb would injure hundreds and cause panic. "The enemy is adaptive," was the reaction of a US general. Another chrorine attack came in early April, killing up to 27 in Ramadi. Ramadi was attacked by chlorine again in mid-May, this time kiling 11 and wounded at least 22.

"Eyes Wide Open" was an exhibit sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee. Opening in Chicago in mid-March, 2007, the exhibit highlights the deaths of Iraqi civilians.

Into June of 2007, a typical day was at least 20-50 bodies (sectarian killing) at the morgue in Baghdad, untold at other morgues, and a suicide bombing killing 20 and wounded perhaps 50. There were better days and worse days. How many Iraqis are dying? From February to mid-August, about 800 have been killed in Baghdad, only including attacks were 20 or more have died.

As of September 2007, the Times op-ed page, by Michael O'Hanlon and others, concluded that overall civilians fatality rates are down about 1/3 since late 2006. Yet, the first six months of 2007 were the deadliest six months of the war for Iraqi civilians. Different numbers lead one to different conclusions. For example, the public editor of the Times wrote in early October that estimates of deaths vary and are misused to push an agenda. Numbers of Iraqis killed in September, for example, varied from 800 to over 1600. Which is it? "Welcome to the confusing world of statistics from Iraq, where news organizations disagree with one another, the news pages of the Times have disagreed with its O-Ed page, and the Pentagon has appeared to disagree with its own top commander. Even the most careful reader is left to wonder what the truth is--whether violence in Iraq is really decreasing and whether President Bush's surge...is working." Some experts feel the fall decrease is violence is "slight" and others feel "significant." Petraeus compared violence to December 2006, when his numbers went much higher than other comparables.

The good news in early October was the many fewer Iraqi civilians were killed in September than in August. The bad news is that the first six months of 2007 were the most (801) for the first six months of any year of the war. Estimates of Iraqi deaths varied greatly depending on who was reporting. Officially, the US does not count the number of dead Iraqis. The US military in November estimated that Iraqi civilians deaths have dropped 60% since June.

Just as Iraqi civilian deaths were decreasing, suicide bombings increased and US troops killed at least five civilians in two days. One was a child in a car which was supposedly not stopping at a road block. Iraqis and Americans had different versions of the shootings.

In all of 2007, about 18,000 Iraqi civilians were killed, according to the Ministry of Interior. Iraq Body Count estimated aboutg 52,000 civilians for the two year period of 2006-2007. That went down to about 9000 in 2008,slightly below 2003 and 2004.

A mistaken US air strike killed 9 civilians in early February 2008. The US apologized, saying, "We offer our condolences to the families of those who were killed in this incident." One child died. Two of the four injured were children. Three of those killed were new US allies, part of concerned local citizens. The attack was 25 miles southeast of Baghdad. It was not reported to the media until the LA Times contacted the military. The air war may reduce US deaths, but could also increase Iraqi civilians deaths and hatred toward the US.

In the following week, the US killed at least two men and a woman and injured a child in a raid near Tikrit.

In the twin pet market bombings of early February, the US claimed that 27 were killed, but Iraqis estimated 99. Children looked at colorful birds as the explosions hit, 15 minutes apart. According to the front page Times report, these suicide bombing attacks by women "left many people...critical of the authorities and pessimistic for the coming year as they fear withdrawal of American troops." There was talk that the two women, teenagers, were mentally impaired. In general, pedestrians and women can slip through check points much easier than cars or men. Both areas of the market are mixed Sunni/Shiite. The US Ambassador explains the bombing because their car bombs are becoming less effective. A US commander sees an increase in the recruitment of widows of "former terrorists to be suicide vest wearers."

In mid-March, as the 5th anniversary approached the Tribune's Sunday Perspective section featured "Missing Persons" in Baghdad, by Liz Sly. "I asked a close Iraqi colleague, Nadeem Majeed, to write down a list of the people he knows who have died...It took a long time." He counted at least 44. They are mostly "ordinary people who led ordinary lives."

The 12/11/08 bombing near Kirkuk, which killed about 50 and wounded 100, was seemed to provoke extremists and opposing groups. The restaurant was filled with 3000 people. Kirkuk, with its oil supplies, has competing claims among Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen. The area is so tense and violent that the area is exempted from the January elections. It is not clear who will govern the region. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia has been active in the area.

In August, twin trucks bombs killed the most since June, with about 95 killed and 600 wounded. See Iraqi Politics for more.

Reports of Iraqi dead, it total, were rare in 2008 and 2009. However, Iraq's Human Rights Ministry's draft report said that from 2004 to 2008, about 85,700 people were killed and 147,000 wounded. This is based on the issuance of death certificates and is the first Iraqi government study. Many deaths are unreported so do not count in these statistics.

Also see "Post-Zarqawi Violence 2006" FAQ and see "Deaths" FAQ.