Combat deaths worldwide have not topped a half-million since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Before that, they ran one million to three million a year in World War I and three million to four million a year in World War II. In recent years, the numbers have been between 20,000 and 30,000.

The reason: Asymmetric conflicts such as the war in Iraq and simmering low-intensity ones don't kill as many people.
The above quote came from http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20060115411576.html supposedly documenting that war has declined, especially since the end of the Cold War.

The referenced statistics completely ignore Rwanda: 800,000 in 100 days during the genocide, 70,000 dead in Goma, and numbers of actual battlefield dead unknown.

They also ignore the follow-on conflict in the Congo (Zaire) with an estimated 3 million + dead.

I guess it depends on where and who you choose to count as "war dead."

Tom