Some Iraqis sympathized with US forces Wednesday after hearing the US death toll in the Iraq War had reached 2,000. However, others noted that far more Iraqis have died in the conflict, and they hope the US "occupiers" will soon go home.

The 2,000 mark was announced in the United States on Tuesday (local time), and the US Senate observed a moment of silence in honour of the fallen Americans.

In Iraq, many people heard about the 2,000 figure on Arab satellite TV channels such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.

Some Iraqis complained that the attention was misguided far more Iraqis have died in the conflict than Americans. No one knows an exact number of Iraqi deaths. But there is some consensus including from a US military spokesman and outside experts that an independent count of roughly 30,000 is a relatively credible tally of Iraqi civilian deaths.

Ali al-Obeidi, a 28-year-old Sunni Arab, said he hoped the US losses would prompt the United States to leave Iraq. Al-Obeidi said the number pales in comparison to the thousands of dead Iraqis.

"The Iraqis are my brothers. We saw nothing good from the Americans. They hurt us and their presence in Iraq is to blame for all the Iraqi deaths."

Iraq Body Count, a British research group that compiles its figures from reports by the major news agencies and British and US newspapers, has said that as many as 30,051 Iraqis have been killed since the start of the war. Other estimates range as high as 100,000.

US and coalition authorities say they have not kept a count of such deaths, and Iraqi Government accounting has proven to be haphazard.

In Washington on Tuesday, US President George W. Bush warned the US public to brace for more casualties in the fight against "as brutal an enemy as we have ever faced."

Source: China Daily