U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq at 2,946

Damn that's getting very close to 3,000. And that's only the dead. Thousands more have been maimed. How many lives are those oil fields worth, George? Just asking.

As of Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006, at least 2,946 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,359 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is 11 higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EST.

The British military has reported 126 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 18; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, six; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Romania, one death each.

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