US military death toll in Iraq reaches 2,000

The US military death toll in Iraq passed 2,000 with the announcement on Tuesday that a soldier had died in a Texas hospital of wounds from a bomb. The unwelcome milestone was expected to spur new calls for US President George W. Bush to outline an exit strategy for the Iraqi conflict.

Besides 2,000 deaths, more than 15,000 US military personnel have been wounded in action in the Iraq war, which began in March 2003.

President Bush said in a speech, 'We've lost some of our nation's finest men and women in the war on terror. A time of war is a time for sacrifice.'

The Pentagon said Staff Sergeant George Alexander, 34, had died on Saturday of injuries sustained eight days ago when a roadside bomb set by insurgents blew up near his vehicle in the town of Samarra.

Earlier, the U.S. military had announced the deaths of two Marines in fighting with insurgents last week in Baghdad.

Bush said the war would require more sacrifice and rejected calls for a US pullout from Iraq.

'Each loss of life is heartbreaking, and the best way to honour the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and lay the foundation of peace by spreading freedom,' he said in a speech before the latest death was announced.