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US death toll in Iraq rises to 2,001
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-26 20:56

A row of U.S. Army helmets are perched on M-16 rifles during a memorial at Al Asad air base for the 15 victims of a Chinook helicopter which was shot down by insurgents in this November 6, 2003 file photo. As the U.S. military death toll in Iraq reached 2,000, U.S. President George W. Bush said on October 25, 2005 that the war will require more time and sacrifice and rejected calls for a U.S. pullout.
A row of U.S. Army helmets are perched on M-16 rifles during a memorial at Al Asad air base for the 15 victims of a Chinook helicopter which was shot down by insurgents in this November 6, 2003 file photo. As the U.S. military death toll in Iraq reached 2,000, U.S. President George W. Bush said on October 25, 2005 that the war will require more time and sacrifice and rejected calls for a U.S. pullout. [Reuters]
An Associated Press count of war-related Iraqi deaths from the time Iraq's elected government took office on April 28 through Tuesday found at least 3,870 Iraqi deaths in that period alone. More than two-thirds were civilians while the rest were Iraqi security personnel.

"I hope the number of Americans who die goes even higher," said Omar Ahmed, 36, the Sunni Arab owner of an electricity shop in Dora, one of the most violent parts of Baghdad.

Nearby, Ali al-Obeidi, a 28-year-old Sunni Arab, said he hoped the U.S. losses would prompt the United States to leave Iraq.

"It makes me happy," he said about the grim 2,000 dead soldiers milestone. "They're an occupation force."

Al-Obeidi said the number pales in comparison to the thousands of dead Iraqis. "The Iraqis are my brothers. We saw nothing good from the Americans. They hurt us and their presence in Iraq is to blame for all the Iraqi deaths."

Such feelings are not shared by many of Iraq's majority Shiites, who were freed from the oppression and discrimination that they suffered under Saddam.

"Remnants of Saddam's regime are cooperating with al-Qaida in Iraq. And this, the killing of the Americans, will affect the stability and rebuilding of Iraq," said Hamid al-Sumaysim, 54, a Shiite shop owner in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. "The Americans liberated us and they will help us to rebuild our country."

Abdul Jabar Hassan, 48, a Shiite government electricity worker in the southern city of Basra, said the growing U.S. death toll could be the result of poor planning by the Bush administration about rebuilding Iraq after the war.

"I'm not surprised by this number," he said. "I expect it to go even higher because America did not plan for the postwar situation in Iraq or really understand its people."

Meanwhile, an Internet statement posted on an extreme Islamist Web site Tuesday claimed that Al-Qaida in Iraq had abducted two Moroccan Embassy employees in Baghdad. No demands were made in the statement and its authenticity could not be verified.

On Monday, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry said embassy driver Abderrahim Boualam and employee Abdelkrim el Mouhafidi disappeared Thursday after driving back from Jordan, where they had gone to pick up their paychecks.

Al-Qaida in Iraq has claimed responsibility for executing numerous hostages, including diplomats from Egypt and Algeria.
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