The toll of US soldiers killed in combat in Iraq has passed the 1991 Gulf War total as the US deputy defence secretary says the United States was not prepared for the chaos that followed the fall of Baghdad.
A serviceman was killed on today when his Humvee drove over an explosive device in the restive town of Falluja. This brings to 148 the number of Americans to die in combat since US-led forces launched the war four months ago that toppled Saddam Hussein as Iraq's president.
"The enemy wants to weaken Iraq and the only genuine solution is to resist the occupation through jihad (holy struggle) to inflict losses and evict the enemy."Audiotape said to be voice of Saddam HusseinThere were 147 US fatalities in the 1991 war.
US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, one of the key architects of the war, said in an interview published today no amount of planning could have foreseen the collapse in law and order after Baghdad fell.
"The so-called forces of law and order just kind of collapsed. There is not a single plan that would have dealt with that," the Los Angeles Times quoted Wolfowitz as saying.
Wolfowitz is deputy to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and is seen as one of the most pro-war figures in the Bush administration, arguing for the military action to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and of Saddam.
But no such weapons have been found and US officials say they face a "guerrilla-style" war waged by supporters of the ousted leader.