Report: Number of Iraqis Killed in War Approaches One Million

The non-profit group Just Foreign Policy says the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the U.S. invasion will soon top one million. The group's estimate is a rough update of a scientific study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University last year, which concluded that 601,000 violent Iraqi deaths were attributable to the invasion as of July 2006.

The number of U.S. troops in Iraq have reached a new high. Pentagon officials say 162,000 American soldiers are now fighting in Iraq. This exceeds the previous high water mark of 161,000 troops in January 2005 after Iraq's national elections. It is estimated an additional 180,000 contractors are working for the U.S. government in Iraq bringing the total size of the U.S force in Iraq to over 340,000.

Meanwhile the New York Times reports the number of private contractors killed in Iraq recently topped 1,000.