U.S. Soon to Reach A Grim Milestone In Iraq

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CBS) This week, the American military could reach a grim milestone: the death of the 2000th U.S. soldier in Iraq.

Twenty-three U.S. soldiers died in Iraq this week, bringing the total number of dead American soldiers to 1,996.

The grim milestone of 2000 dead American soldiers now looms over Iraq. Insurgent attacks killed nearly two dozen US soldiers last week, along with another 12 Iraqis on Sunday.

In Sunday's attacks, a police officer and his four children died when their vehicle exploded in Northern Iraq. In central Baghdad, a suicide car bomb killed two Iraqi police officers. When a suicide bomber rammed into a U.S. military convoy in Kirkuk, 2 civilians were killed and 13 others injured.

With deadly insurgent violence a daily occurrence for Americans and Iraqis and the death toll for U.S. soldiers expected to hit 2000 this week, the call for an American exit strategy is as loud as ever.

But one of the men in charge of U.S. troops in Baghdad says this continued violence shows the U.S. military can only leave Iraq when the goal of training an Iraqi Army to defend its own country is achieved. And that doesn't appear possible immediately.

"If we are talking about an army that can pick up and move out and go out to the borders to defend the country, it's probably going to be a year and a half, two years," says Major General William Webster.

Obviously that's not the timetable some people want to hear. And it's clear if the general's timetable holds true, the milestone of dead U.S. troops is likely to far exceed 2000 before the last soldier comes home.

Nola Woods

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