I check in from time to time with icasualties.org, one of several sites that keeps tabs on the number of casualties in the war in Iraq. As you may have realized from news stories, the last few weeks have been very tough for U.S. troops: In just the last two weeks, we've lost 59 soldiers and 776 have been wounded, about double the rate typical over the last year or so.

  You can see a chart of monthly deaths of U.S. troops here. As the chart shows, 2,772 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war. A chart of the number of U.S. troops wounded by month is here. According to the site, over 20,000 American soldiers have been wounded in the war.

  All of the figures are based on information provided by the Defense Department.