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http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061506J.shtml Pentagon Says Military Deaths in Iraq Hit 2,500 By Will Dunham The Boston Globe Thursday 15 June 2006 Washington - The number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war has reached 2,500, the Pentagon said on Thursday, more than three years into a conflict that finds U.S. and allied foreign forces locked in a struggle with a resilient insurgency. In addition, the Pentagon said 18,490 U.S. troops have been wounded in the war, which began in March 2003 with a U.S.-led invasion to topple President Saddam Hussein. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. "It's important to remember that there is a mission, and there is a greater good which sometimes necessitates tremendous sacrifice," said Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, deputy director for regional operations for the military's Joint Staff who formerly commanded U.S. forces in northern Iraq. "Rather than focus on an aggregate number, I think it's more important for us to remember that there are individuals in that aggregate number ... to whom we should be very, very grateful, and to their families," Ham said. On an average day in the war, about two U.S. troops are killed. In the average month, about 64 U.S. troops are killed. Defense analysts noted that U.S. deaths in Iraq, while significant, are far fewer than in other protracted U.S. wars since World War Two. In the Vietnam War, 58,000 U.S. troops died. In the Korean War, 54,000 died. Roadside bombs, known by the military as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are the biggest cause of U.S. casualties. Ham said despite good progress in detecting roadside bombs and the insurgents responsible for making and planting them, the overall numbers of these attacks have increased over the past several months. Car bombs also remain a deadly threat, Ham said. "Adaptive and Resilient" The steadily mounting U.S. death toll reflects an insurgency that has not buckled despite facing off against a military super power, analysts said. "They've been very adaptive and resilient," said defense analyst Ted Carpenter of the Cato Institute think tank. "That's one of the chief problems that an intervening force faces in any counterinsurgency war. You're fighting on the adversary's home turf and essentially all the enemy has to do is to out-wait the intervening power." Military medical experts say the U.S. death toll would be even higher if not for advances in medical care and body armor that keep alive badly wounded troops who would have died in previous wars. They point to: advances in body armor, with torso armor better protecting the chest and abdomen, heart and lungs and helmets better protecting the brain; improved in-country surgical capabilities allowing patients to be stabilized and quickly flown out of Iraq; and better prepared battlefield medics. The deadliest month of the war was November 2004, when 137 U.S. troops died in a month when U.S. forces conducted a fierce offensive in the city of Falluja in the western Anbar province to deny Sunni Muslim insurgents a safe haven. U.S. fatalities had dropped in five straight months from last November through this March, as insurgents appeared to focus more of their violence on Iraqi civilians and American-trained Iraqi government security forces. But the U.S. death tolls in April and May were above average, and the Pentagon has acknowledged a recent surge in insurgent violence. --- Friday 16 June 2006 If you do not donate, or have not donated, please take the time now to put a little change in the hat. Thank you. Just click this link for our secure donation form: https://secure.entango.com/donate/pkXd5Fr9GE4?mail If you prefer to donate by check, make payable to: Truthout P.O. Box 231278 Encinitas, CA 92023 Or donate by phone: 213.489.1971 Truthout is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, independent news source, so your contributions are completely tax deductible. LOW INCOME READERS: Don't send cash - just spread the word! AND IF YOU ARE AN ACTIVE DONOR: THANK YOU! REMINDER: The Truthout service is FREE to all. Donations are strictly voluntary. If you stop receiving our newsletters, notify us at once. Thanks again! Marc Ash Executive Director | Truthout *** Global Image of the U.S. Is Worsening, Survey Finds by Brian Knowlton NY Times: June 14, 2006 WASHINGTON, June 13 - As the war in Iraq continues for a fourth year, the global image of America has slipped further, even among people in some countries closely allied with the United States, a new opinion poll has found. Favorable views of the United States dropped sharply over the past year in Spain, where only 23 percent said they had a positive opinion, down from 41 percent last year, according to the survey. It was done in 15 nations, including the United States, this spring by the Washington-based Pew Research Center. Other countries where positive views dropped significantly include India (56 percent, down from 71 percent); Russia (43 percent, down from 52 percent); and Indonesia (30 percent, down from 38 percent). In Turkey, only 12 percent said they held a favorable opinion, down from 23 percent last year. Support for the fight against terrorism led by the United States is also down, Pew found. Although strong majorities in several countries expressed worries about Iran's nuclear intentions, in 13 of 15 countries polled, most people said the war in Iraq posed more of a danger to world peace. Russians held that view by a 2-to-1 margin. "Obviously, when you get many more people saying that the U.S. presence in Iraq is a threat to world peace as say that about Iran, it's a measure of how much Iraq is sapping good will to the United States," said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. Only 75 percent of Americans had heard reports of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and at the American naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, while 90 percent of Western Europeans and Japanese had heard about them. Many respondents distinguished between their largely negative feelings about President Bush and their feelings about Americans in general. After a tumultuous year in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fight against terrorism is now backed by more than 50 percent of people only in Russia and India, while support has virtually collapsed in Japan, the poll found. Pew surveyed 16,710 people from March 31 to May 14 in Britain, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States. The margin of error was two to four percentage points in every country except Britain and Germany, where it was six points. *** Dear Friends, This is so very important in terms of justice, labor, education, human rights, and respect. Please consider spending a few moments to write a message to the parties below to protest the criminal acts against Oaxaca teachers and people in their communities. In solidarity, Marcel Hatch ____________________ TEACHERS VIOLENTLY EVICTED FROM THEIR ENCAMPMENT IN OAXACA (This information has been sent to us by the Coordinatng Committee of the Mexican Section of the Trinational Coalition to Defend Public Education) TODAY, JUNE 14TH, STARTING AT 4 AM, POLICE FORCES BEGAN THE VIOLENT EVICTION OF TEACHERS FROM THEIR ENCAMPMENT THAT THEY HAVE MAINTAINED FOR THE PAST THREE WEEKS, IN THE CENTER OF DOWNTOWN OAXACA. The current report is that there are five dead: two children, one pregnant teacher, another woman teacher and one male teacher; three teachers with bullet wounds; over 100 wounded by tear gas canisters, and 80 arrests. The Seccion 22 union headquarters were attacked and ransacked. Radio Planton was also attacked and their equipment was destroyed. Women and children who were hiding in an elementary school, in the center of town, were also driven out. The state government is trying to justify the repression, lying once again. They are claiming that the teachers had guns in their union building and that the police entered unarmed. It is obvious that, during the police raid on the union building, guns were planted by the police, in order to later criminalize the teachers and discredit a legitmate movement that has received significant popular support. The 70,000 schoolteachers in Oaxaca have been on strike since May 22nd, demanding pay raise, cost-of-living adjustment, resources for school infrastructure, free school breakfasts, school supplies, and scholarships for students. The teachers have carried out multiple actions in Mexico City and Oaxaca. Despite the magnitude of these actions, and of the strike, the state government has launched a smear campaign, in the electronic media, against the teachers, blaming them for the state's educational shortcomings and condeming their protests and strikes. And now he is carrying out brutal repression. We are putting out an urgent call to mobilize. Today the threates of even more repression are arriving. We can't leave the teachers alone. Allowing this repression to continue is a blow to all social movements in the country, and a step forward in the privatization of education and the rest of the public sector. We are asking you to send letters to President Fox, the Governor of Oaxaca, and the Secretary of the Interior, demanding: 1) Dialogue, not repression. Satistactory response to the teachers' list of demands. 2) Freedom for all the political prisoners and punishment for the intellectual and material authors of the repression. 3) Respect for union autonomy and democracy. Send letters to: Lic. Vicente Fox Quesada Presidente Constitucional de México Fax 55 5277 2376, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dr. José Luis Soberanes Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos Fax: 55 5681 7199 Dr. Ricardo Sepúlveda Coordinador de la Unidad para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos De la Secretaría de Gobernación Fax: 55 5128 0234 Lic. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Oaxaca Fax. 01 (951) 51 65 966,51-60677/ fax: 51-63737/ cel: 0449515470377 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] LIC, BULMARO RITO SALINAS PRESIDENTE DE LA GRAN COMISION DE LA CAMARA DE DIPUTADOS Fax: +951 5020200 [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>_ LIC. JORGE FRANCO VARGAS SECRETARIO GENERAL DE GOBIERNO Fax: +951 1325378 [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>_ y [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>_ Letters should be sent to: *Lic. Vicente Fox Quesada Presidente de la República Mexicana, E-mail; [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Lic. Carlos Abascal Carranza Secretrio de Gobernación, E-mail; [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Lic. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Oaxaca Fax. 01 (951) 51 65 966,51-60677/ fax: 51-63737/ cel: 0449515470377 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] y copia a [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] , al Periódico La Jornada [EMAIL PROTECTED] y llamar a la estación de radio (92.1 FM) de la sección 22 al 01 951 51 69 77 6 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! 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