The U.S. death toll in Iraq surpassed 500 over the weekend after a roadside car bomb exploded in a small town north of Baghdad, killing three American soldiers and two Iraqi paramilitary fighters.

Since President Bush declared the war in Iraq May 1, 2003, more than 360 American soldiers have died, making the number of U.S. deaths larger after the war’s end than before it was declared over. Two-thirds of the U.S. deaths resulted from hostile fire, while the rest were due to non-hostile causes. Nine Wisconsin soldiers have fallen since Operation Iraqi Freedom began last March.

The Department of Defense has stated it will not pull out of Iraq despite the rising numbers of U.S. deaths. Although they recognize the human cost of the conflict, defense officials claim that the cause of defeating Saddam warrants risking American lives.

“Saddam’s Iraq was a state sponsor of terrorism and our service-members who have died there were defending their country against terrorism, in the process liberating 25 million people from tyranny,” a Defense Department official who wished to remain nameless said in an e-mail.

The Defense Department also said it has worked hard to accomplish its mission in Iraq while minimizing the numbers of lives lost by reworking tactics and procedures.

As the death toll continues to climb, President Bush is working to increase multilateral support for the mission in Iraq by employing the United Nations more heavily in rebuilding the war-torn country.

While Bush proudly lauded the U.S. capture of Saddam and the American victory in Iraq in his State of the Union address Tuesday, many consider declaring victory in Iraq shortsighted at this point due to the continuing numbers of U.S. deaths after the conflict’s end.

“A lot of this is about expectations,” University of Wisconsin Associate Political Science Professor Jon Pevehouse said. “He said the war is over. But more people have died after the war than during it.”

Pevehouse said that though Bush is trying to send a message that the end of Iraq conflict is in sight, the trickling numbers of U.S. deaths each week may convince many Americans otherwise.

“I think a lot of Americans are getting frustrated,” Pevehouse said.

The death toll in the 1991 Gulf War, when a U.S.-led coalition waged war on Saddam Hussein after Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, was 315. The significantly higher number of deaths due to the current conflict in Iraq has proven to make this war in Iraq much more unpopular than the last, Pevehouse believes.

“This war is destined to be less popular than the Gulf War,” Pevehouse said.

Nevertheless, Pevehouse said he thinks the number of deaths thus far has been low, considering the number of days U.S. forces have been in Iraq and the large number of suicide bombings since the war’s beginning.

Although public support for U.S. military involvement has traditionally been most dependent on keeping U.S. deaths low, the public has been looking at other issues in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The controversy over the actual existence of weapons of mass destruction under Saddam’s regime has also been a large determinant in dictating American approval of the war.