Iraqi Civilian Casualties: 2007 More Deadly Than 2006

[L. Coyote]

Iraqi Civilian Casualties: 2007 More Deadly Than 2006
By Spencer Ackerman - September 10, 2007, 11:49 AM
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004116.php

It took some time and effort, but, with the aid of TPM readers (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/052519.php), we've obtained two complete lists of monthly Iraqi civilian casualties from January 2006 forward. Taking these numbers on their own terms, they do not bear out the claims made by the Bush administration and U.S. military that the surge has reduced Iraqi civilian casualties. Comparing each month's death toll in 2007 to the death toll from that same month in 2006, the numbers show that surge has not made Iraq safer for the civilian population. By some measurements, Iraqis are in greater danger than a year ago.

It's a sign of how skewed the debate over the Iraq War is that these numbers are not readily available. Different Iraqi government agencies present different casualty figures. The U.S. military's own casualty total is said to rely on the Iraqis, but it's unclear which Iraqi agency it uses or what adjustments are made to the Iraqi figures. Even as today's testimony from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker is considered a possible make-or-break moment for U.S. policy on Iraq, with the Bush Administration and the Pentagon touting the success of the surge in reducing civilian casualties, there is no general agreement on what civilian casualties have been or on what the most accurate methodology for tallying casualties is.

The two lists presented here rely on statistics gathered by the Associated Press and by Iraq Body Count (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/), a reputable British organization that has done Herculean work in compiling civilian-casualty data. ...........

[Downtown Hound]

1. We're kicking ass! So said the psycho in chief.

[L. Coyote]

2. And, everyone knows who they can believe! And who they cannot! Game over.

The ruse is over!!!