Oct. 24 - As American military casualties in Iraq approach 2,000, a milestone likely to raise national attention about the ongoing conflict, the future of U.S. involvement could be questioned further.
The deaths of three Marines, including one from Greensboro, killed by an explosion near Nasser Wa Salaam, were announced by the U.S. Department of Defense on Friday. The official total as of that day was 1,983, but officials haven't publicly confirmed other deaths from the weekend.
The figure reported by Antiwar.com, however, is slightly higher at 1,996 casualties since the beginning of the war in March 2003.
The number of total casualties is high but reflective of the United States' involvement in the conflict, said Thomas Alan Schwartz, professor of history at Vanderbilt University.
"It's the most significant American engagement since the Vietnam War," he said.
Though public support for the Iraq war probably will decline with the news of almost 2,000 casualties, he said extensive policy changes should not be expected.
Rodger Payne, political science professor at the University of Louisville, said the casualty report probably will serve to reinforce some opinions that already have been shifting, rather than sparking a dramatic change.
Public support for the Bush administration's management of the Iraq conflict has diminished steadily during the past year. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll from this month found 61 percent of respondents disapprove of President Bush's handling of Iraq, compared to 32 percent who approve.
Mike Hachey, a UNC student and member of the Campaign to End the Cycle of Violence, which opposes the war in Iraq, said that he recognizes the growth in national opposition to the war, but that active opposition to the war in Iraq always has been present.
