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Category: War |
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A man sifts through the rubble of a destroyed building belonging to Saleh al-Mutlaq, the Chairman for the Iraqi National Dialogue Council, after a U.S. raid in Baghdad January 1, 2007. REUTERS
Iraqi deaths hit record as Bush mulls changes
Tue Jan 2, 2007 5:28 AM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The number of Iraqi civilians killed in political violence hit a record high in December, according figures compiled by Iraq's Interior Ministry.
While the U.S. military mourned the 3,000th soldier killed in Iraq in nearly four years of war, President Bush pondered a new strategy to turn around the unpopular war.
The Interior Ministry data, almost certain to be an underestimate, showed
12,320 CIVILIANS KILLED IN 2006 [ALONE]
in what officials term "terrorist" violence.
There has been no significant repeat of a series of car bombings that killed more than 70 people in Shi'ite neighborhoods on Saturday within hours of the dawn execution of former president Saddam Hussein.
The government and U.S. forces were on alert for the kind of sectarian violence that has dragged Iraq toward civil war since Saddam's overthrow, particularly since the release of a video showing Shi'ite officials taunting him on the gallows.
Bush plans to unveil a new strategy this month after the 3,000th soldier to die in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion was killed just before New Year. At least 112 Americans died in December, the deadliest month for them in more than two years.
Military Times, a private U.S. newspaper widely read by the armed forces,
***published the results of a survey mailed to subscribers that found just 35 percent of active-duty personnel approved of Bush's handling of Iraq and 42 percent disapproved.***
The Iraqi Interior Ministry figures, obtained by Reuters late on Monday, ... viewed as a guide to trends but give only a partial sampling of deaths.
The ministry figure of 1,930 civilian deaths in December is three-and-a-half times the equivalent of 548 last January, before last year's surge in sectarian killing which followed the destruction of a major Shi'ite shrine in February. The figures also showed 1,231 policemen were killed in 2006 and 602 Iraqi soldiers.
All such statistics are controversial in Iraq. ....
The U.N. figure shows about 120 civilians died each day.
Clearly frustrated at its inability to reduce violence blamed partly on militia death squads nominally loyal to parties in power, the government has stopped publishing its own figures and has barred its officials from giving out such data.
........
The United States is urging the Shi'ites not to alienate Sunnis to avert an all-out civil war. ....
.....
Exactly when Bush may announce his new strategy, possibly in a national address, remains unclear. Some commentators speculate it could be within days -- before the January 23 State of the Union address -- and potentially include an increase of 15,000 to 30,000 combat troops.
[DESPITE THE RECPOMMENDATIONS OF HIS OWN APPOINTED TEAM OF ADVISORS!]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?
The trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters
Torn apart.
....
"How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
'Cos tonight
We can be as one, tonight.
...
"Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away.
I'll wipe your tears away.
I'll wipe your tears away.
I'll wipe your bloodshot eyes..."
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