WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (AFP) - As the US death toll surpassed 1,000 Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicted more attacks against US forces in Iraq but insisted the country is better off than before US forces invaded in March 2003.
The grim milestone was passed amid renewed fighting in Baghdad that claimed the lives of at least three more US soldiers. US air strikes pummeled Fallujah, an insurgent stronghold that has bedeviled US forces since an uprising there in April.
A Pentagon official said the toll was now at least 1,001, including three US civilian officials. He said officials were still trying to confirm two additional reported deaths.
"We're over 1,000 for sure with three civilian casualties," he said.
Rumsfeld earlier acknowledged the deaths at a Pentagon news conference.
"Soon the American forces are likely to suffer the 1,000th casualty at the hands of terrorists and extremists in Iraq," he said. "When combined with US losses in other theaters in the global war on terror, we have lost well more than 1,000 already."
The three-figure death toll prompted reactions in the closely fought US presidential election set for November 2.
"Today marks a tragic milestone in the war in Iraq," Democratic presidential contender John Kerry said, adding that the US soldiers' "sacrifice will not be in vain."
"We are committed to making the right decisions in Iraq and the right decisions for them here in home," the Massachusetts senator said.
The White House paid tribute to the fallen troops.
"We remember, honour and mourn the loss of all those that made the ultimate sacrifice defending freedom. We also remember those who lost their lives on September 11," said Scott McClellan, President George W. Bush's spokesman.
Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said insurgent attacks on US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan were likely to intensify as elections in the two countries approach.
"It's a tough, difficult business," Rumsfeld said. "On the other hand, the people of Iraq today and Afghanistan are so much better off today than they were a year ago, in every conceivable respect."
He also emphasized the world faced a global struggle against Muslim extremism, pointing to the bloody hostage-taking at a Russian school that left hundreds dead, many of them children.
"There are really no free passes in this struggle, this war. There are no free passes for countries. There are really no free passes for individuals," Rumsfeld said.
"And for that reason the civilized world has to stay on the offensive. And that's exactly what the coalition is doing," he said.
Myers acknowledged that US casualties have spiked recently, due mainly to suicide attacks and roadside bombings, and said the insurgents were using more sophisticated tactics.
Seven Marines were killed Monday when a suicide bomber rammed their convoy outside Fallujah, the deadliest attack on US forces in months.
Since an uprising in April ended with a withdrawal of Marines from the city to its outskirts, Fallujah has emerged as a virtual safe haven for insurgents.
Myers said the strategy for retaking Fallujah and other strongholds that is being worked out with Iraqi leaders depends on more Iraqi security forces being fully trained and armed.
"Part of that strategy is that Iraqi security forces must be properly equipped, trained and led to participate in these security operations, and then once it's over, can sustain the peace in a given city," Myers said.
"And while US forces or coalition forces on their own can do just about anything they want to do, it makes a lot more sense that it be a sustained operation, one that can be sustained by Iraqi security forces," he said.
About 95,000 Iraqi security forces are currently fully trained. Myers said a "substantial" number more will be ready by December. Rumsfeld said more than 200,000 will be fully trained by mid-2005.