American deaths in Iraq reach 2,500 mark.

WASHINGTON - American deaths since the invasion of Iraq have reached 2,500, marking a grim milestone in the wake of recent events that President Bush hopes will reverse the war’s unpopularity at home.

Senate rejects U.S. troop pullout in Iraq.

As the debates got under way, the Senate sent the president an additional $66 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan while the Pentagon announced the U.S. death toll for the war had reached 2,500.

“It’s a number,” White House press secretary Tony Snow said of the grim milestone.

Post-al-Zarqawi raids kill 104 insurgents.

American and Iraqi forces have carried out 452 raids since the June 7 airstrike on al-Zarqawi, and 104 insurgents were killed in those actions, said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell.

The nationwide raids led to the discovery of 28 significant arms caches, Caldwell said.

He said 255 of the raids were joint operations, while 143 were carried out by Iraqi forces alone. The raids also resulted in the captures of 759 “anti-Iraqi elements.”

The Pentagon’s announcement that 2,500 U.S. troops had died since the war in Iraq began more than three years ago did not include any details on when the grim milestone was reached.

U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq Reach 2,500.

The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that 2,500 U.S. troops have died in the Iraq war since it began more than three years ago.

The grim milestone was announced just hours before the House was to begin a symbolic election-year debate over the war, with Republicans rallying against calls by some Democrats to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.