It’s just ....numbers.

Since the start of the illegal invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq:

• 3 US soldiers are now missing
  
• 72 journalists have been killed
  
• 226 Coalition troops have been killed
  
• 337 contractors have been killed (of which 215 were American)
  
• 1,780 Coalition troops have been wounded
  
• 2,502 American soldiers are dead
  
• 18,490 American soldiers have been wounded or maimed for life
  
• 250,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed

.:: The Timeline ::.
A New Milestone in Iraq: Five Hundred US Soldiers Dead
by Medea Benjamin on CommonDreams.org
Monday, January 19, 2004

A new milestone was reached in Iraq this week: the death toll for US soldiers reached the 500 mark. Most of these deaths have occurred since President Bush declared an end to the major hostilities on May 1. … fear that the American people been lulled into accepting these daily casualties, processing them as lightly as they do the day’s weather report or the sports figures. The fact that the media is banned from covering the flag-draped coffins at Dover Air Force Base or that President Bush has not attended one funeral helps shelter the public from the true horror of this daily carnage. And just recently, the press stopped covering the soldiers’ deaths as front-page news.

U.S. death toll in Iraq passes 1,000
Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged the death toll earlier Tuesday, but told reporters at the Pentagon that going on the offensive against terrorism “has its cost.”

“It should be noted that the civilized world passed the thousandth casualty mark a long time ago,” he said. “Hundreds were killed in Russia last week. And this week, of course, on September 11, 2004, we remember the 3,000 citizens of dozens of countries who were killed on September 11 in 2001.”

US death toll in Iraq reaches 1,500
By Philippe Naughton,
Times Online March 03, 2005

A grim milestone was passed in Iraq today when a US Marine was killed in action south of Baghdad - the 1,500th American soldier to lose his life since the invasion.

It would not give any more details, saying in a statement: “Force protection measures preclude the release of any information that could aid enemy personnel in assessing the effectiveness, or lack thereof, with regard to their tactics, techniques and procedures. The release of more details about the incident could place our personnel at greater risk.”

Worryingly, the number of military deaths has shown no sign of falling since President Bush landed on USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003 with a banner saying “Mission Accomplished” and declared an end to major combat operations.

Military’s Advice to Reporters: 2,000 Dead in Iraq ‘Not a Milestone’
By E&P Staff
Published: October 25, 2005

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, director of the force’s combined press center, wrote in an e-mail to reporters, “I ask that when you report on the events, take a moment to think about the effects on the families and those serving in Iraq. The 2,000 service members killed in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom is not a milestone. It is an artificial mark on the wall set by individuals or groups with specific agendas and ulterior motives.”

Tony Snow on U.S. Death #2500 in Iraq: “It’s a Number”
By E&P Staff
Published: June 15, 2006

Q Tony, American deaths in Iraq have reached 2,500. Is there any response or reaction from the President on that?
A. MR. SNOW: It’s a number…