U.S. Military Losses Hit 4,000 in Iraq, Afghanistan (Update1)

By Robin Stringer
July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Four thousand U.S. service members have died in U.S. President George W. Bush's ``war on terror'' in Iraq and Afghanistan 5 1/2 years after American forces ousted the Taliban in December 2001.
A total of 3,596 have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion that removed Saddam Hussein from power. Some 2,957 of that number were killed in action, according to the latest Department of Defense figures. More than 26,500 personnel have been wounded in that conflict, 11,959 of them so seriously they couldn't return to duty.
In Afghanistan, 404 American personnel have died, of which 224 were killed in action. Those deaths include 61 personnel who died in Pakistan and Uzbekistan in support of the operation. Some 1,361 have been injured; 813 of them couldn't return to duty.
In Iraq, an insurgency rages against U.S. and coalition forces. The first six months this year were the deadliest yet for the American military, with more than 580 killed.
U.S. President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. The U.S. accused the Taliban regime of hiding al-Qaeda leaders including Osama bin Laden, wanted for the worst terror attacks on U.S. soil. American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces are currently battling a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.
Between 66,939 and 73,253 civilians have died in Iraq since March 2003, according to the Iraq Body Count Web site that counts casualties reported by at least two media outlets.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robin Stringer in London at rstringer@bloomberg.net .