24,000 civilian Iraqi deaths in 2007

[cal04]

Source: The Daily Telegraph

US-LED coalition and paramilitary forces in Iraq were responsible for some 24,000 violent civilian deaths in 2007, according to an independent group monitoring casualties in the war-ravaged country.

The Iraq Body Count (IBC) whose figures are tallied from media reports, morgue and hospital data, non-governmental and other sources, said in a report that there were between 22,586 and 24,159 violent civilian deaths in Iraq during the past year.

"Perhaps the most accurate description of the security situation for Iraqi civilians in the past year is that it was less bad than if the worst of the late 2006 levels had been sustained throughout 2007," the group said in a statement.

The IBC lamented security that "remains at an abysmally low level" in much of the country.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22999215-5001028,00.html

[Zynx]

1. In all fairness I don't see how those killed by suicide bombers and

militias are our fault except to the extent that we back certain militias.

[rodeodance]

2. They are there as a consequence of the war---therefore they do count.

[Zynx]

3. Fair enough, but I think it would be more appropriate to blame the government

as a whole and not the military personnel.

[KoKo]

4. Perhaps we should blame Bush/Cheney/Rummy and NeoCons along with Congress... for the Invasion.

That might be the most appropriate place for the Blame.

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. Really? - and what if the USA had just stayed home?

.
.
.
??

[Zynx]

6. It's a different thing to blame the government than to blame the soldiers

I distinguish between policies and the men on the ground.

[tuckessee]

18. Where do you draw the line?

At what rank does responsibility vanish?

[ohio2007]

7. Many are killed by AQ, the invited guests of some Sunni tribes but the tables have turned

In fact, the last "audio" tape from OBL was trying to convince Sunni's in Iraq to stop attacking AQ. I don't think they are going to give much credence to the ingrate
How many of the body counts included headless bodies found tied up and dumped in shallow graves or in ditches?

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Amnesty international mentions far higher death tolls in areas where the US has no presence. Guess it's because there is no oil in these other countries or
the Chinese oil companies have a status quo set up with those shit hole countries leaders to supply weapons to keep the them in power.

Things are worse in Venezuela when it comes to death squads. The first day of 2008 they had 63 murders ( assassinations)


http://vzlanpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/12/33-per-day.html


http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/?p=10815


http://noticias.eluniversal.com/2007/12/28/sucgc_art_ministro-del-interio_653559.shtml


sure is nice we have a monopoly on all that Iraqi oil
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3121728
/sarc

[EFerrari]

9. So, how long have you been a mouthpiece for the opposition?

I'd not try to peddle that obvious bs here.

[ohio2007]

11. Is that you Hugo ?

Amnesty international is an opposition group ?
wtf!
Bet you think Kucinich is going to beat out chickenhawk Hillary!

Your talking out of yer azz

lol

[EFerrari]

12. No, it's a person with a brain. Please continue to post

this cr@p. In fact, speed it up and save us all some time. lol

:hi:

[ohio2007]

20. not willing to take the bet ?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3122434&mesg_id=3122434

smart man ;)

[wtmusic]

16. al Qaeda? Good one.

There are an estimated 3-5000 members of al Qaeda in Iraq. In a country of 24 million.

Either they've been very, very busy, or your country is selling you a line. And you've sucked it up like a good Murkin.

How does your link even start to refute the fact that the US has a complete monopoly on Iraqi oil?

[RedSock]

15. the "missing" ammo

Also:

Maybe the hundreds of tons of weapons and ammo that the US just happened to leave unguarded over the past few years to be stolen and then used against US troops = a bit o' fault.

EDIT: in October 2004, it was reported that "Nearly 380 tons of strong conventional weapons were recently stolen from a facility in Iraq ... The Bush administration is being blamed for faulty security at the compound, which had no obvious security present ..."

And there have been other incidents as well.

[wtmusic]

17. You must be kidding.

We invade a country, fail to provide security, and we're not to blame? That is pure unadulterated denial.

[EFerrari]

8. Shame.

[Sultana]

10. Horrid

How would American react if those we our citizens?

[struggle4progress]

13. The IBC methodology is guaranteed to seriously underestimate civilian casualities

so the true number is certainly much higher

Iraq Body Count: “A Very Misleading Exercise”
By Media Lens
05 October 2007

The mainstream media are continuing to use figures provided by the website Iraq Body Count (IBC) to sell the public a number for total post-invasion deaths of Iraqis that is perhaps 5-10% of the true death toll ...

“A UK-based polling agency, Opinion Research Business (ORB), said it had extrapolated the figure by asking a random sample of 1,461 Iraqi adults how many people living in their household had died as a result of the violence rather than from natural causes.

“The results lend weight to a 2006 survey of Iraqi households published by the Lancet, which suggested that about 655,000 Iraqi deaths were ‘a consequence of the war’.

“However, these estimates are both far higher than the running total of reported civilian deaths maintained by the campaign group Iraq Body Count which puts the figure at between 71,000 and 78,000.” (BBC Online, ‘US contractors in Iraq shootout,’ September 17, 2007) ...

http://www.countercurrents.org/lens051007.htm

<edit: add MediaLens link>

[geiger]

14. sickening

[Magleetis]

19. The US

has created an Arab drain in Iraq. I think that was part of the plan all along. It is a lot easier to kill them than to let them into the US, huh George?

[Doctor_J]

21. This has to be waaaaaaay too low

I am sorry, but this is nonsense. I have heard reliable reports that the total for Operation I'm A War President is more than a million. 24,000 for this year wouldn't do it.