The Daily Background

According to the latest United Nations figures, October (the most recent month for which figures are available– November isn’t over yet) was the most violent month in Iraq so far. CNN/AP:

Insurgent attacks in Iraq killed 3,709 civilians last month, making October the deadliest month since the war began in 2003, according to U.N. figures.

[…]
September had 3,345 civilian deaths — which, along with October, would bring to 7,054 the number of violent deaths during the two-month period, according to the U.N. tally.

Baghdad alone had no less than 4,985 deaths, “most of them as a result of gunshot wounds,” said the U.N. Assistance Mission, using figures provided by the Iraqi Health Ministry.

The figures were slightly higher than in July and August, when 6,599 civilians were killed.

When asked if Iraq was experiencing a civil war, outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once answered that if Iraq were truly in the midst of a civil war, then there would be a lot of civilian refugees. That just isn’t so, he said (thus proving that Iraq could not possibly be in a civil war). The UN begs to differ on the matter of refugees:

Sectarian violence has led to the displacement of more than 418,000 people, and military operations have forced 15,240 to leave their homes since the February shrine bombing, the report said, citing estimates from the U.N. refugee agency.

In addition, 1.6 million have left the country altogether since 2003, and some 100,000 per month have left Iraq during the past few months, the report said, again citing estimates from the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Filed under: Iraq Related, Z-TDB Blog