U.S. death toll in Iraq hits 4,000

By Ross Colvin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were blown up in Baghdad, pushing the U.S. military death toll in Iraq to 4,000 just days into the sixth year of a war that President George W. Bush says the United States is on track to win.

The U.S. military said on Monday the soldiers were killed on Sunday when a roadside bomb, the biggest killer of U.S. soldiers in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, exploded near their vehicle in southern Baghdad. One soldier was wounded.

On the same day dozens of Iraqis were killed in rocket and mortar attacks on the U.S.-protected "Green Zone" government and diplomatic compound in central Baghdad, and in other bombings in the capital and elsewhere.

The White House said President George W. Bush was saddened by the loss of 4,000 troops and would focus on ensuring the United States succeeds in the conflict.

"It's a sober moment, and one that all of us can focus on," a White House spokeswoman said.

The United States lost 58,000 troops in over a decade of fighting in Vietnam until 1975, and 54,000 in the three-year-long Korean war that began in 1950.

The U.S. military played down the latest Iraqi toll. "No casualty is more or less significant than another; each soldier, marine, airman and sailor is equally precious and their loss equally tragic," a spokesman said.

Anthony Cordesman, a respected Iraq analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the 4,000th death could trigger another wave of polarised debate.