(
Occasional sobering thoughts.) Amid last week's news that the latest
troop withdrawal bill's been sidelined by a majority of Senate Republicans, and today news that "
car and suicide bombings ... killed 44 people and wounded more than 100 in less than 24 hours across Iraq, shattering what had been a relatively calm holy month of Ramadan," here's the count of casualties: even by Iraq Body Count's low-end figure,
civilian casualties since the war began now well exceed 73,000. Specifically, it reports that between 73,606 and 80,224 Iraqi women, children, and men had died in the conflict -- an increase of 2,347 to 2,416 deaths in the last 3 weeks. By the U.S. Defense Department's figures, meanwhile,
3,800 American servicemembers have been killed through today. Total coalition fatalities:
4,100 person
s. (That's 62 servicemember deaths in 3 weeks, all but 3 of them Americans.) The Department stated that
27,767 servicemembers have 
been wounded, and that 8,298 of them required medical air transport. Military
ca
sualties in the conflict in
Afghanistan stand at 442 Americans and 254 other coalition servicemembers, an increase of 4 a
nd 15, respectively, in the last 3 weeks.
(Occasional sobering thoughts.) Amid last week's news that the latest troop withdrawal bill's been sidelined by a majority of Senate Republicans, and today news that "car and suicide bombings ... killed 44 people and wounded more than 100 in less than 24 hours across Iraq, shattering what had been a relatively calm holy month of Ramadan," here's the count of casualties: even by Iraq Body Count's low-end figure, civilian casualties since the war began now well exceed 73,000. Specifically, it reports that between 73,606 and 80,224 Iraqi women, children, and men had died in the conflict -- an increase of 2,347 to 2,416 deaths in the last 3 weeks. By the U.S. Defense Department's figures, meanwhile, 3,800 American servicemembers have been killed through today. Total coalition fatalities: 4,100 persons. (That's 62 servicemember deaths in 3 weeks, all but 3 of them Americans.) The Department stated that 27,767 servicemembers have 
been wounded, and that 8,298 of them required medical air transport. Military casualties in the conflict in Afghanistan stand at 442 Americans and 254 other coalition servicemembers, an increase of 4 and 15, respectively, in the last 3 weeks.
