(CNN)October bloodiest month yet for Iraqi civilians

[DMC_Freeride]

This sucks.... More people died last month in Iraq then died in the WTC on 911... I personally feel terrible for these people..

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/ ... index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The United Nations said Wednesday that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the highest monthly toll since the March 2003 U.S. invasion and another sign of the severity of Iraq's sectarian bloodbath.

The U.N. tally was more than three times higher than the total The Associated Press had tabulated for the month, and far more than the 2,866 U.S. service members who have died during all of the war.

The report on civilian casualties, handed out at a U.N. news conference in Baghdad, said the influence of militias was growing and torture continued to be rampant, despite the Iraqi government's vow to address human rights abuses.

"Hundreds of bodies continued to appear in different areas of Baghdad handcuffed, blindfolded and bearing signs of torture and execution-style killing," the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq report said. "Many witnesses reported that perpetrators wear militia attire and even police or army uniforms."

The report painted a grim picture across the board, from attacks on journalists, judges and lawyers and the worsening situation of women to displacement, violence against religious minorities and the targeting of schools.

Based on figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry, the country's hospitals and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad, the report said October's figure was higher than July's previously unprecedented civilian death toll of 3,590.

"I think the type of violence is different in the past few months," Gianni Magazzeni, the UNAMI chief in Baghdad, told the news conference. "There was a great increase in sectarian violence in activities by terrorists and insurgents, but also by militias and criminal gangs."

He said "this phenomenon" has been typical since Sunni-Arab insurgents bombed a major Shiite shrine on February 22 in Samarra, north of Baghdad.

UNAMI's Human Rights Office continued to receive reports that Iraqi police and security forces are either infiltrated or act in collusion with militias, the report said.

It said that while sectarian violence is the main cause of the civilian killings, Iraqis also continue to be the victims of terrorist acts, roadside bombs, drive-by shootings, cross fire between rival gangs, or between police and insurgents, kidnappings, military operations, crime and police abuse.

Asked about the U.N. report, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh called it "inaccurate and exaggerated" because "it is not based on official government reports."

When asked if there is a government report, al-Dabbagh said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that one "is not available yet but it will be published later."

Access to the U.N. news conference in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad was blocked for many because the main entrance was closed. U.S. forces were checking for unexploded ordinance in the area, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

The news conference also was being held one day after a car bomb attack inside the Green Zone apparently attempted to kill Iraq's controversial speaker of parliament.

The small bomb exploded Tuesday afternoon at the back of an armored car in the motorcade of the Sunni speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, as it was driving into a parking lot near the Green Zone's convention center, a parliamentary aide said.

The slightly wounded American security guard driver got out of the vehicle and found other explosive devices planted beneath it, the aide said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

[XtremeJibber2001]

Totally unacceptable! Whatever is being done or not being done certainly needs to change.

I'm curious if we pulled out would civilians deaths increase or decrease?

[Bubba]

This sucks.... More people died last month in Iraq then died in the WTC on 911... I personally feel terrible for these people..

And even more people died in Darfur yet many of the same people who argue for us to immediately get out of Iraq argue for troops to enter Sudan. Huh?

[DMC_Freeride]

Totally unacceptable! Whatever is being done or not being done certainly needs to change.

I'm curious if we pulled out would civilians deaths increase or decrease?

Increase... But our casualties would decrease... And isn't this whole thing about US??? About taking the fight somewhere else? Pushing our problems on others? Protecting families in north Dakota from Terrorism?

[DMC_Freeride]

This sucks.... More people died last month in Iraq then died in the WTC on 911... I personally feel terrible for these people..

And even more people died in Darfur yet many of the same people who argue for us to immediately get out of Iraq argue for troops to enter Sudan. Huh?

the situation in Sudan sucks too...

[XtremeJibber2001]

Totally unacceptable! Whatever is being done or not being done certainly needs to change.

I'm curious if we pulled out would civilians deaths increase or decrease?

Increase... But our casualties would decrease... And isn't this whole thing about US??? About taking the fight somewhere else? Pushing our problems on others? Protecting families in north Dakota from Terrorism?

I guess it depends who you ask.

- Is it about the US? Partially, but I feel we're currently there for the Iraqi's benefit and no longer our own interests.

- Well, I would prefer the fight to be over there. However, I wonder if we leave would the insurgents make Iraq a strong hold ... what would happen?

- We're certainly not pushing our problem on other considering our causalities ... it's just as much our problem as it is theirs.

- If ND was bombed, would it be any less tragic then people killed in NYC? They have the same right to be worried about terrorism as anyone else.

[BigKahuna13]

This sucks.... More people died last month in Iraq then died in the WTC on 911... I personally feel terrible for these people..

And even more people died in Darfur yet many of the same people who argue for us to immediately get out of Iraq argue for troops to enter Sudan. Huh?

Of course there's the obvious difference that those in Iraq are either directly or indirectly dying as a result of our actions, while those in Darfur aren't and presumably our presence there would stop or mitigate that slaughter.

[DMC_Freeride]

I guess it depends who you ask.

- Is it about the US? Partially, but I feel we're currently there for the Iraqi's benefit and no longer our own interests.

- Well, I would prefer the fight to be over there. However, I wonder if we leave would the insurgents make Iraq a strong hold ... what would happen?

- We're certainly not pushing our problem on other considering our causalities ... it's just as much our problem as it is theirs.

- If ND was bombed, would it be any less tragic then people killed in NYC? They have the same right to be worried about terrorism as anyone else.

I can't even respond to this....

[Bubba]

This sucks.... More people died last month in Iraq then died in the WTC on 911... I personally feel terrible for these people..

And even more people died in Darfur yet many of the same people who argue for us to immediately get out of Iraq argue for troops to enter Sudan. Huh?

Of course there's the obvious difference that those in Iraq are either directly or indirectly dying as a result of our actions, while those in Darfur aren't and presumably our presence there would stop or mitigate that slaughter.

OK...so Saddam killed hundreds of thousands of his own people and caused several wars that killed over a million. We stopped or mitigated that slaughter.

[Dr. NO]

This sucks.... More people died last month in Iraq then died in the WTC on 911... I personally feel terrible for these people..

And even more people died in Darfur yet many of the same people who argue for us to immediately get out of Iraq argue for troops to enter Sudan. Huh?

Someone mentioned the fact that going to Darfur would be for "manitarian reasons" vs. National Interest. So, by that we are expected to help one nation, which is in a civil war, but get out of another nation which is on the verge of a civil war and will disrupt the entire region.

[BigKahuna13]

This sucks.... More people died last month in Iraq then died in the WTC on 911... I personally feel terrible for these people..

And even more people died in Darfur yet many of the same people who argue for us to immediately get out of Iraq argue for troops to enter Sudan. Huh?

Of course there's the obvious difference that those in Iraq are either directly or indirectly dying as a result of our actions, while those in Darfur aren't and presumably our presence there would stop or mitigate that slaughter.

OK...so Saddam killed hundreds of thousands of his own people and caused several wars that killed over a million. We stopped or mitigated that slaughter.

Maybe. Maybe not. Different situations with different objectives don't necessarily lead to similar results.

Someone mentioned the fact that going to Darfur would be for "manitarian reasons" vs. National Interest. So, by that we are expected to help one nation, which is in a civil war, but get out of another nation which is on the verge of a civil war and will disrupt the entire region.

Ignoring the fact that we're the primary cause of the civil war that's about to happen in Iraq - is already underway if you ask me - we have made zero progress in stabilizing that country. It should be blindingly obvious to anyone who bothers to rationally look at the situation that the only thing we're achieving right now is getting our people killed.

Only a fool remains in a no win situation like that. Give the elected Iraqi government 6 months to get it's act together and give them all the assistance we realistically can to get there. After that we should wash our hands of it.

[Atomic1]

Cnn should of cared about the Iraqi people a long time ago when Sadam was exterminating them as was evident by the mass graves and pics. of dead men,women and children.
But where were they then? The admitted they lied about what was going on in Iraq .Maybe if they were honest back then things could be different now.
http://www.honestreporting.com/articles ... ver-Up.asp

[ski_adk]

Just more proof that Saddam was a brutal dictator because that is what it takes to make these bitter enemies behave. Neither side really wants democracy because neither side can stand the prospect of compromising with the other.

[DMC_Freeride]

Cnn should of cared about the Iraqi people a long time ago when Sadam was exterminating them as was evident by the mass graves and pics. of dead men,women and children.

Yo genius... It's an AP report... So i could give you any number of prints from dozens of news sites...

So if CNN didn't care then - we shouldnt care now... Is that what your saying?? do you actually care about the people we're trying to protect?

[XtremeJibber2001]

Cnn should of cared about the Iraqi people a long time ago when Sadam was exterminating them as was evident by the mass graves and pics. of dead men,women and children.

Yo genius... It's an AP report... So i could give you any number of prints from dozens of news sites...

So if CNN didn't care then - we shouldnt care now... Is that what your saying?? do you actually care about the people we're trying to protect?

I think he's trying to point out that Iraqi civilian deaths are only tragic today because of the US presence in Iraq.

Prior to our presence, Iraqi civilians deaths were not nearly as tragic, similar to Darfur and several other areas of the World that are neglected.