US Death Toll in Iraq Exceeds 9/11

Marine Corporal Jesse Hassell grieves next to the casket containing the remains of Marine Lance Corporal Brent E. Beeler following Beeler's funeral in Napoleon, Michigan December 19, 2006. Beeler was killed in combat near Falluja, Iraq.

In a span of a few hours, 2,973 people were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In a span of 45 months, the number of American troops killed in Iraq has exceeded that grim toll.

The milestone in Iraq came on Christmas, nearly four years after the war began, according to a count by The Associated Press.

With new casualties announced by the U.S. military on Tuesday, the death toll of American soldiers since the March 2003 beginning of the Iraq war was at least 2,978 -- five more than the number killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The AP count is 17 higher than the Defense Department's tally, which was last updated Tuesday.

President Bush has said the Iraq war is part of the United States' post-Sept. 11 approach to threats abroad: Taking the offensive against enemies before they could harm Americans.

There has not been any credible evidence linking Iraq to the Sept. 11 attacks. Democrats have said the war in Iraq detracted from efforts against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

''The president believes that every life is precious and he grieves for each one that is lost,'' deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said Tuesday. ''The hardest decision the president has ever made has been to send our young men and women in uniform into harm's way.

''The president will ensure that their sacrifice was not made in vain.''

The 9/11 death toll includes the 2,749 killed at the World Trade Center, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 passengers aboard United Flight 93.(keep reading - New York Times)