Figures showing Iraq violence drop not complete
Figures showing Iraq violence drop not complete
By Patrick Quinn
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military did not count people killed by
bombs, mortars, rockets or other mass attacks — including suicide
bombings — when it reported a dramatic drop in the number of murders
around Baghdad last month, the U.S. command said Monday.
The decision to include only victims of drive-by shootings and those
killed by torture and execution, usually at the hands of death
squads, allowed U.S. officials to argue that a security crackdown
that began in the capital on Aug. 7 had more than halved the city’s
murder rate.
But the types of slayings, including suicide bombings, that the U.S.
excluded from the category of “murder” were not made explicit at the
time. That led to considerable confusion after Iraqi Health Ministry
figures showed that 1,536 people had died violently around Baghdad in
August, nearly the same number as in July.
The figures raise serious questions about the success of the security
operation launched by the U.S.-led coalition. When they released the
murder rate figures, U.S. officials and their Iraqi counterparts were
eager to show progress in restoring security in Baghdad, at a time
when the country looks to be on the verge of civil war.
At the end of August, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj.
Gen. William B. Caldwell, said violence had dropped significantly
because of the operation. Caldwell said “attacks in Baghdad were well
below the monthly average for July. Since Aug. 7, the murder rate in
Baghdad dropped 52 percent from the daily rate for July.”
Caldwell, however, did not make the key distiction that the rate he
was referring to excluded a significant part of the relentless daily
violence that tears through Baghdad. On Monday for example, at least
20 of the 26 people who died in the capital were killed in bombings.
“These comments were intended to highlight some specific indicators
of progress and were never stated in relation to broader casualty
figures,” U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said Monday.
He added that Caldwell “used murders and executions specifically
because they are a key indicator of sectarian-related violence.”
Johnson said other types of violence that are recoded by the military
as “indicators for calculating casualties” include roadside bombs
called improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, mortars and rockets,
small-arms fire “such as when used to fire in crowds after an IED
attack versus an individual being murdered,” car bombs — known as
VBIED’s — and suicide attacks.
Under the military’s definition, murders include civilians killed
“who are specifically targeted,” in drive-by shootings and stabbing
for example, but do not include executions or “those killed in
indirect fire, IED, VBIED, or suicide attacks, all of which may or
may not be related to sectarian violence.”
Executions include people who have been held, tortured and then
killed and are considerd to be motivated by ethnic or sectarian
reasons — unless they are some form of reprisal killing or related to
crime.
Johnson would not provide the figures used to calculate the
percentages and said the military would not give detailed information
about trends because it could provide “our enemy information they
need to adjust their tactics and procedures to be more effective
against us.”
He added that although the military collected its violence data from
as many sources as possible and used a steady methodology, “we do not
claim our information represents every possible victim of violence.”
The confusion over numbers underscores the difficulty of obtaining
accurate death tolls in Iraq, which lacks the data reporting and
tracking systems of most modern nations. When top Iraqi political
officials cite death numbers, they often refuse to say where the
numbers came from.
The Health Ministry, which tallies civilian deaths, relies on reports
from government hospitals and morgues. The Interior Ministry, which
command Iraqi’s police, compiles figures from police stations, while
the Defense Ministry reports deaths only among army soldiers and
insurgents killed in combat.
The United Nations keeps its own count, based largely on reports from
the Baghdad morgue and the Health Ministry. A U.N. official said it
would be announcing August figures later.
Controversy over civilian death figures in Iraq dates back to the
U.S. invasion and has continued. Some believe that figures are
manipulated politically.
In December 2003, the Health Ministry stopped releasing civilian
casualty figures for several months.
Last year, Baghdad morgue director Faik Baker fled to Jordan after he
said he came under pressure to not report deaths — especially those
caused by death squads.
By Patrick Quinn
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military did not count people killed by
bombs, mortars, rockets or other mass attacks — including suicide
bombings — when it reported a dramatic drop in the number of murders
around Baghdad last month, the U.S. command said Monday.
The decision to include only victims of drive-by shootings and those
killed by torture and execution, usually at the hands of death
squads, allowed U.S. officials to argue that a security crackdown
that began in the capital on Aug. 7 had more than halved the city’s
murder rate.
But the types of slayings, including suicide bombings, that the U.S.
excluded from the category of “murder” were not made explicit at the
time. That led to considerable confusion after Iraqi Health Ministry
figures showed that 1,536 people had died violently around Baghdad in
August, nearly the same number as in July.
The figures raise serious questions about the success of the security
operation launched by the U.S.-led coalition. When they released the
murder rate figures, U.S. officials and their Iraqi counterparts were
eager to show progress in restoring security in Baghdad, at a time
when the country looks to be on the verge of civil war.
At the end of August, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj.
Gen. William B. Caldwell, said violence had dropped significantly
because of the operation. Caldwell said “attacks in Baghdad were well
below the monthly average for July. Since Aug. 7, the murder rate in
Baghdad dropped 52 percent from the daily rate for July.”
Caldwell, however, did not make the key distiction that the rate he
was referring to excluded a significant part of the relentless daily
violence that tears through Baghdad. On Monday for example, at least
20 of the 26 people who died in the capital were killed in bombings.
“These comments were intended to highlight some specific indicators
of progress and were never stated in relation to broader casualty
figures,” U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said Monday.
He added that Caldwell “used murders and executions specifically
because they are a key indicator of sectarian-related violence.”
Johnson said other types of violence that are recoded by the military
as “indicators for calculating casualties” include roadside bombs
called improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, mortars and rockets,
small-arms fire “such as when used to fire in crowds after an IED
attack versus an individual being murdered,” car bombs — known as
VBIED’s — and suicide attacks.
Under the military’s definition, murders include civilians killed
“who are specifically targeted,” in drive-by shootings and stabbing
for example, but do not include executions or “those killed in
indirect fire, IED, VBIED, or suicide attacks, all of which may or
may not be related to sectarian violence.”
Executions include people who have been held, tortured and then
killed and are considerd to be motivated by ethnic or sectarian
reasons — unless they are some form of reprisal killing or related to
crime.
Johnson would not provide the figures used to calculate the
percentages and said the military would not give detailed information
about trends because it could provide “our enemy information they
need to adjust their tactics and procedures to be more effective
against us.”
He added that although the military collected its violence data from
as many sources as possible and used a steady methodology, “we do not
claim our information represents every possible victim of violence.”
The confusion over numbers underscores the difficulty of obtaining
accurate death tolls in Iraq, which lacks the data reporting and
tracking systems of most modern nations. When top Iraqi political
officials cite death numbers, they often refuse to say where the
numbers came from.
The Health Ministry, which tallies civilian deaths, relies on reports
from government hospitals and morgues. The Interior Ministry, which
command Iraqi’s police, compiles figures from police stations, while
the Defense Ministry reports deaths only among army soldiers and
insurgents killed in combat.
The United Nations keeps its own count, based largely on reports from
the Baghdad morgue and the Health Ministry. A U.N. official said it
would be announcing August figures later.
Controversy over civilian death figures in Iraq dates back to the
U.S. invasion and has continued. Some believe that figures are
manipulated politically.
In December 2003, the Health Ministry stopped releasing civilian
casualty figures for several months.
Last year, Baghdad morgue director Faik Baker fled to Jordan after he
said he came under pressure to not report deaths — especially those
caused by death squads.
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