Bombs blitz Baghdad as UN warns of chaos (3 US troops dead MON, 1

[rodeodance]

today)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061011/wl_afp/iraqunrest_061011193118

Bombs blitz Baghdad as UN warns of chaos

by Dave Clark 1 hour, 12 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - At least six bombs exploded around Baghdad as the death toll from a brutal civil conflict continued to rise steeply and a top UN official warned that Iraq is spiralling out of control.


US President George W. Bush and the Iraqi government issued coordinated denials of an independent US study which estimates that 655,000 Iraqis have died since the 2003 US invasion, dismissing the report as dubious and exaggerated.

In continuing violence on the ground, the leader of a religious minority was shot dead in front of his home and US soldiers battled to control a fire triggered by a mortar attack on an ammunition store.

The latest attacks came after two days in which Baghdad police found the corpses of 110 murder victims scattered across the capital, which is in the grip of a vicious turf war between Sunni and Shiite factions.

[Supersedeas]

1. Nothing to see here -- helicopters, planes, scrambled F14's

[Massachusetts]

2. Nothing to see here

Sarcasm agreed with. The lemmings change direction with the wind. Sorry for Lidle and his family and anybody else injured, but we must remain focused.

IMO

[sarcasmo]

3. Will the next missing white girl please step up.

Kick and Nom for the true #1 story.

[al bupp]

4. As for the WH denial of the Iraqi civilian casualties...

I saw John Zogby on CNN international (maybe the only program w/o Cafferty on CNN worth watching) today. He vouched for the methods used to come up w/ this estimate and said in his opinion that he believed they were probably w/in a 95% confidence range. In statistics that's usually considered close enough to be taken for "true".

The fact of the matter is that we may never know the full extent of Iraqi casualties because, outside of about 5 or 6 major urban area, pretty much the whole country 's uncovered by any systematic reporting.

The WH can only dismiss this estimate, as they don't have any more reliable estimates of their own to offer.

[bahrbearian]

6. Zoby, has always been on the Mark.

[tk2kewl]

5. Those terrorist working hand-in-hand with the Democtats again

:silly:

[tblue37]

7. "Civil conflict"--

Jeesh! Theyw ill go to almost any length to avoid saying "civil war," won't they.