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Six One News: Richard Downes reports from Basra that coalition forces rarely venture out on patrol, except in numbers
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Six One News: Brian Finn reports that the invasion and occupation are increasingly unpopular in the USA
Hundreds of protests and vigils are being held across the United States today to mark the US military death toll in Iraq reaching 2,000.
It follows the death in a military hospital in Texas of 34-year-old Staff Sergeant George Alexander of wounds sustained in a bomb attack in Samarra last week.
The figure of 2,000 has long been foreseen as a significant marker by US anti-war campaigners.
More than 300 protests were planned from Washington to California to Hawaii.
The US Senate held a minute's silence to mark the casualties in Iraq.
While there are no official figures, it is estimated that 30,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the US-led invasion began in 2003.
