Hell in Iraq - Sufferings endured by Iraqs who had no choice

Death Toll For Iraqis Reaches New High

3,709 Civilians Killed In October, U.N. Says

Must-See Video: The Iraq War in 8 Minutes

 War's Toll on Iraqis Put at 22,950 in '06
Statistics From Health Ministry Official Show Tripling of Civilian, Police Deaths

By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, January 8, 2007; A01

BAGHDAD, Jan. 7 -- More than 17,000 Iraqi civilians and police officers died violently in the latter half of 2006, according to Iraqi Health Ministry statistics, a sharp increase that coincided with rising sectarian strife since the February bombing of a landmark Shiite shrine.

In the first six months of last year, 5,640 Iraqi civilians and police officers were killed, but that number more than tripled to 17,310 in the latter half of the year, according to data provided by a Health Ministry official with direct knowledge of the statistics. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said those numbers remained incomplete, suggesting the final tally of violent deaths could be higher.

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Death Toll For Iraqis Reaches New High
3,709 Civilians Killed In October, U.N. Says

By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 23, 2006; A01

BAGHDAD, Nov. 22 -- "The number of civilians killed in Iraq reached a record monthly high of 3,709 in October, mostly a result of sectarian violence, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.

The report by the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq described the many ways civilians have been killed, from roadside bombs to drive-by shootings to kidnappings. Many were found handcuffed, blindfolded and bearing signs of torture and execution-style killing. Most had gunshot wounds.

Culling from figures kept by Iraq's Health Ministry, private hospitals and Baghdad's morgue, the report described a rapidly deteriorating society that has forced an estimated 1.6 million people to flee to neighboring countries since the war began in 2003. No longer are terrorists and insurgents the main perpetrators of the killings. Death squads linked to militias, often in collusion with the Iraqi police, and criminal gangs are also responsible, the report said. Many slayings were simply acts of vengeance.

"There's a great deal of people taking the law into their own hands and not looking for justice within the system," Gianni Magazzeni, head of the U.N. human rights office in Baghdad, said in an interview.

Wednesday was no different: About 100 people were killed across the country. Among them was a bodyguard of Iraq's parliament speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who himself escaped an apparent assassination attempt the day before. Also killed was a journalist for the state-run al-Sabah newspaper, gunned down as he drove through the capital."

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Iraq better off under Saddam, says Blix.  Iraq would have been better if the war had not taken place

"Former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix on October 26, described the US-led invasion of Iraq as a "pure failure" that had left the country worse off than under the rule of Saddam Hussein.

In unusually harsh comments to Danish newspaper Politiken, the diplomatic Swede said the US government had ended up in a situation in which neither staying nor leaving Iraq were good options.

"Iraq is a pure failure," Blix was quoted as saying. "If the Americans pull out, there is a risk that they will leave a country in civil war. At the same time, it doesn't seem that the United States can help to stabilise the situation by staying there."

War-related violence in Iraq has grown worse, with dozens of civil-ians, government officials and police and security force members being killed every day. At least 83 US soldiers have been killed in October - the highest monthly toll this year.

Blix said the situation would have been better if the war had not taken place."

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Must-See Video: The Iraq War in 8 Minutes

"A new video shot for a London newspaper and the BBC by an embed with the U.S. Army, suggests, in chilling words and images, the absurd position of the U.S. in Iraq, as the people we try to train -- you know, our comrades in arms -- seem more intent on lobbing grenades at us.

By Greg Mitchell

(October 22, 2006) -- Over the years, I have made few requests of readers of this column, beyond hinting that, maybe, you ought to return here from time to time. But now I have to urge you to drop everything, finish reading this come-on, and then link to the video described below. It’s the most revealing little (eight-minute) video I’ve seen yet on our country’s preposterous position in Iraq.

Aptly, it is titled, "Iraq: The Real Story." It won’t turn your stomach, in fact, you may even chuckle in spots (like you might have done in reading much of “Catch-22”). But, hopefully, you will end up screaming at the computer screen. 

That’s partly because it arrives at such a critical moment, with the death counts for both Americans and Iraqis soaring, and the debate over what to do about this catastrophe reaching a fever pitch, even before the election of a new Congress.

Here’s what you will see (notice, I wrote will, presuming you will, indeed, follow the link below).

Sean Smith, the award-winning photographer for The Guardian in London, who has put in several tours of duty in Iraq (before, during, and after the 2003 invasion), recently embedded with the 101st Airborne, for six weeks. He ended up chronicling attempts by the U.S. Army in the northern Iraqi region around Hawija and Tikrit to hand over duties, or at least work with, Iraqi military and police -- you know, helping them stand up so we can stand down. He’s now produced the video, which includes some of his photos, for the Guardian and the BBC.

It opens on a familiar note, as Smith observes that some in the 101st are on their third tour of duty. Many are just counting the days until they "are back in Tennesee." Then they suddenly are shown in a six-minute firefight with insurgents, but no bodies are found, no prisoners taken, and they may have to wait days for more action. “We do our jobs,” one young soldier says.

Then we watch the unit seize three Iraqis suspected of doing ... something. They are “bagged” -- literally have bags placed over their heads -- and taken away. Another couple locals are caught “redhanded” planting IEDs. So far so good.

But then it turns ugly.

We tag along on “a home visit for the 101st." They have been tipped off that an alleged gun dealer was hanging with a local family but nothing is found. The angry family say it's the sixth time they’ve been raided over nothing.

So where are the Iraqi forces in all this? Conspicuous by their absence. The same young soldier who spoke earlier tells Smith, “I don’t think this country will ever be ready for U.S. forces to leave it. They’re too lazy.”

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