RECORD HIGH 6,599 Iraqis killed between July and August

[gatorboy]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060921/D8K98K180.html

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The number of Iraqi civilians killed in July and August hit 6,599, a record-high number that is far greater than initial estimates suggested, the United Nations said Wednesday.

The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq's Human Rights office highlighted the sectarian crisis gripping the country, offering a grim assessment across a range of indicators - worrying evidence of torture, unlawful detentions, growth of sectarian militias and death squads, and a rise in "honor killings" of women.

That raises new questions about U.S. and Iraqi forces' ability to bring peace to Baghdad, where the bulk of the violent deaths occurred. Iraq's government, set up in 2006, is "currently facing a generalized breakdown of law and order which presents a serious challenge to the institutions of Iraq," it said.

According to the U.N., which releases the figures every two months, violent civilian deaths in July reached an unprecedented high of 3,590, an average of more than 100 a day. The August toll was 3,009, the report said.

[Lars39]

1. Yet just this morning CNN was saying that Iraq has settled down.

That little tid-bit was nestled in the piece about our spinach being terrarists. :silly:

[lonestarnot]

4. Amazing, simply amazing.

[wtmusic]

2. I'm glad Hillary is making a fuss about 3 kidnapped Israeli soldiers

um, Hillary? These *brown* people have a problem...

[indepat]

3. At whose feet must these deaths lie

[pampango]

5. 98% the responsibility of he-whose-name-must-not-be-spoken

1% the British for drawing stupid borders back in the day and not leaving a stable, democratic form of government like they did in India, Canada, Australia, and others.

1% Saddam Hussein just because he was a brutal military dictator (largely with our support) who imposed minority ethnic rule over the country. The build up of ethnic animosity was a powder keg which could only have been difused with a South African kind of transition which, thanks to Mr. 98%, was obviously not in the cards.

(Edited to correct title.)

[Lars39]

6. This needs a little

:kick: