The US death toll in Iraq has reached the symbolic milestone of 3,000. The news comes as President George W. Bush reconsiders American strategy in the country. He is under pressure to change course, amid public and political discontent. New proposals could include an increase in the number of US troops on the ground. An independent group tracking casualties announced the 3,000 mark had been reached. The Pentagon confirmed the death of a 22-year-old had been previously unreported.

The Arnolds of Pennsylvania are among US parents grieving children who did not return from the front. “I don’t know what is actually being accomplished but I hope something has so they have not died in vain,” said Kendall Arnold, who is mourning his son Daniel. Daniel Arnold is buried just down the road from where he grew up. He left behind a wife and two sons. December was the deadliest month for US forces in Iraq since 2004. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died in the almost four-year-old war.

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