How Many Iraqis Were Killed in '06?

[The Rabbi]

23,000?
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR831964.htm

16,000?
http://albawaba.com/en/countries/Iraq/208038

24,500?
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

14,000+17000=31,000?
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/18/iraq.main/index.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usiraqunresttoll
(NB: the latter source says 22,950 for the year, but only 5640 for the first half of the year).

Why do I get the feeling no one really knows and all of this is mostly political junk?
(And yes, I have anticipated the answer "obviously not enough" already.)

[El Tejon]

What number can I look into the camera and say most sorrowfully.

[Perd Hapley]

No matter the number, Bush is to blame.  He's the one who decided to knock over their dictator, meaning they just HAD to start killing each other.

[cosine]

No matter the number, Bush is to blame.  He's the one who decided to knock over their dictator, meaning they just HAD to start killing each other.

Well, c'mon, you know he's just Cheney's/Haliburton's/Big Oil's puppet. Gotta pass the blame around you know. 

[Desertdog]

It's still probably less than Saddam would have caused to die.

Not only that, most of them were killed by other Iraqis, not Americans.

So the real question is; How many Iraqs were killed by the Americans and how many were saved by the Americans.

[griz]

The UN says 34,452.  That number must be correct since it isn't rounded off.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070117/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070116205634

At any rate, the stats I can find seem to show that the executions under saddam were about comprable.  But it is very hard to get an apples to apples comparison.

[wmenorr67]

While I cannot give answer other than what is "reported", no one can ever really tell how many Iraqis were killed in '06, I can tell you that most of those killed by CF are "asking" for it.  The average Iraqi knows to avoid patrols whether they are mounted or on foot.  If you are out on a mounted patrol and come up on a group of civilian vehicles the smart ones that are paying attention are moving the hell out of the way.  Some that are not paying attention get a warning and usually a non-lethel means gets their attention.  One example would be to throw a water bottle at the car.  The really dumb ones or the ones that mean harm need more extreme means of persuasion. 

[Perd Hapley]

You're throwing water bottles at innocent Iraqis!!       The humanity!!

[wingnutx]

Unfortunately, the ones who deserve it the most are not pushing up daisies, specifically Sadr.

Hopefully this will change in the very near future.

It'd be nice if they'd asplode him before I go back over.

[CAnnoneer]

Freedom is not given. It is earned, usually with blood. Iraqi casualties are just part of that bill. I continue maintaining that the current course is the least expensive among all practical alternatives.

[wmenorr67]

The innocent ones are the ones that only get the water bottles.  The non-innocent ones get a lot more than a water bottle.  So far none of my troops have had to go beyond water bottles.

[LAK]

Even the we-hate-bush-liberal-left-commie media is obsessed with how many troops are being killed, and very co-operatively have been rather quiet about how many Iraqis have been murdered, maimed, tortured, raped or anything etc.

I predict that down the road when all the mass graves appear they will all be attributed to Saddam Hussein. The possibility that they have been murdered all these post invasion years will be discounted.

Thank you CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, NY Times, TIME, Newsweek etc for your unwavering co-operation

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