Resource: Iraq Coalition Casualties

Iraq Coalition Casualties website <http://www.icasualties.org/oif/> tallies daily and monthly the numbers of killed and wounded American soldiers. According to the site, "Whenever a death occurs, CENTCOM (the United States Central Command in Tampa, FL) issues a brief news release that gives the bare facts about the incident: when it happened, how it happened, and the soldier’s regiment, if known. The only information not provided at this point is the soldier’s name. These releases are published regularly on the Internet at: <http://www.centcom.mil/>. After the soldier’s relatives are notified of the death, the U.S. Department of Defense then issues its own news release that gives the soldier’s name, age, unit and hometown. Again, these can be found on the Internet here: <http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/>. The trouble with this system of notification, however, is that the government provides no tally of those releases," so this page has shouldered the responsibility.

As of this morning, the number of American fatalities is 1,449 (86 Brits have died and 86 "others," for a grand total of 1621). The number of wounded in action, according to the DoD, stands at 10,740. The numbers are broken down in various ways, some heartbreaking (US Fatalities State Map -- deaths are heavily concentrated in the blue states, by the way), some infuriating (1242: US deaths since July 2, 2003 [when] Pres. Bush announces, "Bring Them On"). The site also has an up-to-date list of news stories, many from foreign media, related to the war. <http://www.icasualties.org/oif/>