THE WORLD

Wolfowitz Comes Up Short on Troop Deaths
By Esther Schrader
Times Staff Writer

April 30, 2004

WASHINGTON — Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, testifying Thursday before a congressional subcommittee, drastically underestimated the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since the war began.

"It's approximately 500, of which — I can get the exact numbers — approximately 350 are combat deaths," said Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the war.

According to the Pentagon, 726 U.S. troops had died in Iraq as of Thursday morning. Of those, 524 were combat deaths. That figure does not include U.S. civilian deaths.

"He misspoke," Wolfowitz spokesman Charley Cooper said later. "We're correcting the record."

Wolfowitz provided the erroneous casualty figures while being questioned by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) during a hearing by the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations. Kaptur complained that many soldiers still used vehicles without doors for transportation, and asked Wolfowitz how many soldiers were killed in such vehicles.

Wolfowitz responded that "we are doing everything we can" to protect troops.

"There is nothing that guarantees protection, as I think you know," he added.



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