Overall US death toll in Iraq hits 4,000

BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. military spokesman says every death in Iraq is “equally tragic.”

He spoke after the American death toll in Iraq reached 4,000.

That mark was reached yesterday when four U.S. soldiers died in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. Another soldier was wounded.

The military spokesman expresses condolences to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq. He says there have been “some significant gains” in Iraq, but calls the enemy “resilient.” He adds that “there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Today, an Iraqi military spokesman reports that troops have found rocket launching pads in areas in predominantly Shiite eastern Baghdad. Those sites had been used by extremists to fire on the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)