- In the nearly three weeks after the capture of Saddam
Hussein, almost one U.S. soldier a day has been killed in action in Iraq.
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- Since the Dec. 13 arrest of the ousted Iraqi strongman,
at least 23 American soldiers in all have died there, according to Pentagon
and U.S. Central Command reports. Of those, 17 perished in combat circumstances
while the rest succumbed to illness, accidents, suicide or other causes.
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- Military officials place little stock in the significance
of the death toll so soon after Saddam was nabbed. They say too little
time has passed for the number of U.S. fatalities to be indicative of the
effect of his seizure or of stepped-up U.S. raids and arrests conducted
thereafter using information gleaned from the arrest.
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- "Let's remember, it's only been two weeks-plus since
the capture," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitte told reporters in Baghdad on
Monday. He added that the number of "engagements" with the enemy
has stayed "relatively the same."
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- Three New Year's Eve attacks demonstrated that the insurgents
are still intent on inflicting casualties. A bomb killed at least five
patrons at a popular Baghdad restaurant Wednesday night, and two other
attacks in Baghdad involved bombs that were detonated as U.S. convoys passed
by. A total of eight American troops were reported wounded in the second
and third attacks.
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- Still, the overall December toll shows it was a far less
bloody month for American soldiers than November, which ranked as the deadliest
for GIs since the start of the war in March. In December, a total of 39
troops perished from hostile and nonhostile causes - fewer than half of
November's sad mark of 82 deaths, according to a Scripps Howard News Service
computer analysis of official U.S. military data.
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- The pace of November's bloodshed was attributed by U.S.
Central Command officials to an apparent effort on the part of insurgents
to inflict more casualties during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which
began in late October and ended in late November.
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- In all, since the March 19 opening of the war, 478 American
GIs have died in Iraq and environs, according to Pentagon figures. Of those,
about 60 percent fell in combat.
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- The Scripps analysis of the recent deaths found:
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- - For the first time in the war, a majority of all U.S.
deaths from hostile causes in December came from the makeshift bombs designated
"improvised explosive devices" by the military. In all, 70 percent
of December's hostile deaths were attributed to the bombs, compared with
34 percent in November.
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- - Americans died in a wide area throughout central and
northern Iraq in December. This continued a trend begun in November in
which enemy action spread beyond the so-called "Sunni triangle"
abutting Baghdad, where anti-U.S. sentiments are strongest.
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- Only a third of deaths from all causes and a quarter
of fatalities from hostile action occurred in Baghdad itself. U.S. deaths
occurred an average of 71 miles from Baghdad in December and 102 miles
from the capital in November.
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- - In December, about a tenth of all who died were officers,
slightly more than a third were noncommissioned officers and the rest were
from the enlisted ranks. That breakdown mirrors the split during the 10
months of war and U.S. occupation in Iraq.
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- The average age of the December dead was 28, which matches
that for the entire 10 months, as well.
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- - During December, noncombat deaths included a soldier
electrocuted while working with a communication wire, one suffering a heart
attack during physical training, another succumbing to "an undetermined
illness," at least two perishing in vehicle accidents and two suspected
of committing suicide.
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