Each year in the US there are about 15,000 to 16,000 people murdered. That is compared to just over 4000 soldiers killed in action in Iraq during the entire war there. Here is an article that says more people were shot to death in Chicago over this past summer than were killed in Iraq during that period.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/chicago.summer.shootings.2.810166.html

For some more perspective on war death's in Iraq, consider Mexico. There have been 71 police officers killed in Mexico in August, with a total of 136 people killed in the Mexican drug wars in the past week, many of them decapitated. Mexico has about 30,000 soldiers as I recall, so it is more dangerous to be in the Mexican Army in Mexico than to be in the US army in Iraq. We don't see much about that in the news. The chaos in Mexico right on our border is perhaps worse than the situation in Iraq.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexdrugs30-2008aug30,0,5217757.story