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More Than 1,800 Iraqis
Killed in August
By Robert H Reid
09/01/07 --- - BAGHDAD (AP) — Civilian deaths rose in
August to their second-highest monthly level this year,
according to figures compiled Saturday by The Associated
Press. That raises questions about whether U.S. strategy is
working days before Congress receives landmark reports that
will decide the course of the war.
At least 81 American service members also died in Iraq
during August — an increase of two over the previous month
but well below the year's monthly high of 126 in May.
American deaths surpassed the 80 mark during only two months
of 2006.
U.S. military officials have insisted that the security plan
launched early this year have brought a decrease in attacks
on civilians and sectarian killings, especially in the
Baghdad area, which was the focus of the new strategy.
The top American commander, Gen. David Petraeus, is expected
to cite security improvements when he and Ambassador Ryan
Crocker submit reports on progress toward stability and
national reconciliation to Congress during the week of Sept.
10.
However, figures compiled by the AP from police reports
nationwide show that at least 1,809 civilians were killed
across the country last month compared with 1,760 in July.
That brings to 27,564 the number of Iraqi civilians killed
since AP began collecting data on April 28, 2005.
According to the AP count, civilian deaths reached a high
point during the wave of sectarian bombings, kidnappings and
killings at the end of last year — 2,172 in December and
1,967 in the previous month.
Crocker predicted Saturday there will be no "fundamental or
quick change" in the American policy on Iraq and appealed
for patience as Congress prepares to receive the reports.
Speaking in Arabic on Iraqi state television, he said the
U.S. administration believes Iraqis have made tangible
progress — which Congress has demanded as a condition for
continued U.S. support.
"Since 2003, there has been a stable policy by the American
administration and I don't think there will be a fundamental
or quick change in the American policy or stand on Iraq," he
said.
Crocker also said Iraqis "and the friends of Iraq" should
show patience as the country grapples with its political and
security crisis.
"After 35 years of injustice under Saddam Hussein, there are
some problems since liberation and the problems of 40 years
cannot be solved in a year or two. What is important is that
there is progress," he said.
President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 additional troops to
Iraq, and monthly death tolls began to decline after the new
security plan was launched Feb. 14. But civilian death tolls
have been creeping back toward levels approaching those
during the worst of the sectarian slaughter.
AP figures show May was the deadliest month for Iraqi
civilians this year, with 1,901 people killed in political
or sectarian violence.
The August total included 520 people killed in quadruple
suicide bombings on communities of Yazidis, a
Kurdish-speaking religious minority, near the Syrian border.
The horrific attacks made Aug. 14 the deadliest day since
the war began in March 2003.
Despite the high nationwide totals, Petraeus was quoted
Friday as saying the troop increase has sharply reduced
sectarian killings in Baghdad, which accounted for most of
the deaths during the wave of Sunni-Shiite slaughter at the
end of last year.
"If you look at Baghdad, which is hugely important because
it is the center of everything in Iraq, you can see the
density plot on ethno-sectarian deaths," Petraeus was quoted
by The Australian newspaper.
"It's a bit macabre but some areas were literally on fire
with hundreds of bodies every week and a total of 2,100 in
the month of December '06, Iraq-wide. It is still much too
high but we think in August in Baghdad it will be as little
as one quarter of what it was," the newspaper quoted
Petraeus as saying.
Petraeus gave no figures. An AP partial count of Baghdad
deaths between Aug. 1 and Aug. 21 showed at least 508
civilians had been killed in the capital — compared with at
least 1,772 civilians slain here during December.
Deaths went down in Baghdad during August in part due to a
strict vehicle ban imposed on the city during a major Shiite
religious ceremony. Violence dropped dramatically during the
Aug. 8-12 ban.
Although American forces have been successful in curbing
major suicide bombings, stopping small scale atrocities has
proven more challenging.
On Saturday, gunmen stormed a house in the Dora district,
seizing three women and a man. The gunmen killed two of the
women about yards away and fled with the two other victims,
a policeman said on condition of anonymity because he was
not supposed to release the information.
The U.S. command expressed hope Saturday that an order by
powerful Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr stand down
his Mahdi Army fighters for up to six months would curb
attacks on civilians and allow American troops to step up
the fight against al-Qaida.
"If implemented, al-Sadr's order holds the prospect of
allowing coalition and Iraqi security forces to intensify
their focus on al-Qaida in Iraq and on protecting the Iraqi
population," the U.S. command said in a statement.
Sunni Arab leaders have accused the Mahdi Army for
massacring thousands of Sunnis during the last three years
and driving tens of thousands of others from their homes.
Many Shiites see the militia as their best protection
against Sunni extremists, including al-Qaida, which have
carried out similar attacks on Shiites.
However, Mahdi's credibility has been shaken by allegations
of extortion, murder, robbery and other crimes committed by
members who appear to be beyond the control of the youthful
al-Sadr, who said he would use the six-month hiatus to
restructure the force "in a way that helps honor the
principles for which it was formed."
The U.S. maintains that some of the breakaway factions,
which the Americans refer to as the "special groups," are
receiving weapons, training and money from Iran, a charge
the Iranians deny.
American troops have been stepping up operations against
Shiite "special groups" in the Baghdad area, even though the
command insists that al-Qaida, a Sunni group, remains the
top priority in Iraq.
Leaflets scattered around Sadr City urged people to report
on Shiite militants who are cooperating with the Iranians,
providing a cell phone number and an e-mail address for
people to make anonymous tips.
"The criminal Iraqis who work with the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards are toys under Persian control," read one of the
leaflets, which pictured a puppet dancing on strings.
"Iranian Revolutionary Guards are interfering in Iraq's
affairs while Iraqis are dying."
AP News Research Center in New
York contributed to this report.
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