The Daily Background

According to a new United Nations estimate, violence in Iraq has increased exponentially and is spectacularly high. A report completed in August concluded that deaths in July had doubled over deaths reported in January. The number of violent deaths in July was 3,438. August?

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.

The lower August number may have been the result of a security crackdown in Baghdad, though it was partly offset by a rise in attacks elsewhere, including in the northern city of Mosul.

For the previous period, the U.N. had reported just under 6,000 deaths — 2,669 in May and 3,149 in June. That was up from 1,129 in April, and 710 in January.

This is unbelievable. 6,599 violent deaths in two months. Incredible. And the nerve of some (Republican) politicans to say that the United States is more dangerous than Iraq. The United States has nearly 300 million people in it. Iraq has only 26 million residents, and yet their murder rate is 11 times higher than ours. This is ridiculous.

It is more shocking still, that the White House keeps repeating its years-old rhetoric that Iraq is ‘turning the corner’ and will soon be a peaceful democracy. What utter, unbelievable bullshit. It may have worked to keep Republicans in power in both chambers of Congress and the White House for a few years, but soon enough the raw truth will catch up with them. Politicians tried to use the same “just a few more months” during Vietnam.

You can’t keep making the same promises of peace, and the same promises that victory is just around the corner and a few months away. Voters are rebelling against that sort of thing this year. The truth is catching up with them.

Filed under: Iraq Related, Z-TDB Blog