Via the Scripps Howard News Service, "Nearly one U.S. soldier a day killed since Saddam capture":

In all, since the March 19 opening of the war, 478 American GIs have died in Iraq and environs, according to Pentagon figures. Of those, about 60 percent fell in combat.

The Scripps analysis of the recent deaths found:

- For the first time in the war, a majority of all U.S. deaths from hostile causes in December came from the makeshift bombs designated "improvised explosive devices" by the military. In all, 70 percent of December's hostile deaths were attributed to the bombs, compared with 34 percent in November.

- Americans died in a wide area throughout central and northern Iraq in December. This continued a trend begun in November in which enemy action spread beyond the so-called "Sunni triangle" abutting Baghdad, where anti-U.S. sentiments are strongest.

Only a third of deaths from all causes and a quarter of fatalities from hostile action occurred in Baghdad itself. U.S. deaths occurred an average of 71 miles from Baghdad in December and 102 miles from the capital in November.

- In December, about a tenth of all who died were officers, slightly more than a third were noncommissioned officers and the rest were from the enlisted ranks.

That breakdown mirrors the split during the 10 months of war and U.S. occupation in Iraq.

The average age of the December dead was 28, which matches that for the entire 10 months, as well.

- During December, noncombat deaths included a soldier electrocuted while working with a communication wire, one suffering a heart attack during physical training, another succumbing to "an undetermined illness," at least two perishing in vehicle accidents and two suspected of committing suicide.