The 4,000th U.S. Death in Iraq

Perhaps it's because it was Easter, a Christian holiday. Perhaps it was in response to the pope baptizing a Muslim during Easter vigil services. Perhaps it was a delayed response to fifth anniversary of the Iraq war just a few days beforehad. Or, as many Baghdad attacks go, there was just no good reason other than killing coalition troops.

A roadside bomb killed four U.S. servicemen on March 23, 2008, pushing deaths to the grisly milestone of 4,000 dead. The 3,000 toll was met in 2006, the day after Saddam Hussein was executed.

The Green Zone also came under attack from rocket and mortar fire; "it was the most sustained assault in months against the nerve center of the U.S. mission," reported the AP.

The Associated Press count includes eight civilian Pentagon workers. They also offered a comparative conflict analysis:

"The deaths taken by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, however, are far less than in other modern American wars. In Vietnam, the U.S. lost on average about 4,850 soldiers a year from 1963-75. In the Korean war, from 1950-53, the U.S. lost about 12,300 soldiers a year.

But a hallmark of the Iraq war is the high wounded-to-killed ratio, partly because of advances in battlefield medicine, enhanced protective gear worn by soldiers and reinforced armored vehicles.

There have been about 15 soldiers wounded for every fatality in Iraq, compared with 2.6 per death in Vietnam and 2.8 in Korea.

The deadliest month for American troops was November 2004, with 137 deaths. April 2004 was the next with 135 U.S. military deaths. May 2007 saw the third-highest toll.

Last December was the lowest monthly death toll, when 23 soldiers were killed - one less than February 2004."

The Christian Science Monitor reported that the Easter attacks on the Green Zone originated from Sadr City, the lair of Shiite firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militant minions are supposedly under a ceasefire.

"'I was sleeping on the rooftop and at about 6 a.m. I woke up to the sound of five rockets being launched from my area,' says Amir Abdullah, adding that he was certain the rockets came from a part of Sadr City known as Sector 55.

Iraqi police quoted by Reuters said that at least eight people were killed when some of the rockets missed the Green Zone, falling in a residential neighborhood.

Another Baghdad resident, Ahmed Jalil, says that he fears stepped-up US raids against the Mahdi Army in Sadr City as a result of the rocket attacks."

The U.S. was quick to keep al-Sadr happy by branding the attacks as coming from rebel Shiites who refused to follow the cleric's cease-fire.

In other Iraq news, according to the Associated Press six war protesters burst into Easter Mass at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, "shouting and squirting fake blood on themselves and parishioners ... One Mass attendee, Mike Wainscott of Chicago, yelled at the anti-war protesters. 'Are you happy with yourselves?' he said. 'There were kids in there. You scared little kids with your selfish act. Are you happy now?'"