U.S. military disputes Iraq's casualty list
Eager to show success as it prepares to reduce troop strength, it says many fewer died in July.
By Hamza Hendawi

Associated Press



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BAGHDAD - Though concern is rising in the United States about the war in Afghanistan, Americans are eager to show evidence of progress in Iraq.
New Iraqi government figures tell a different story, however, showing civilian casualties hitting the highest level in more than two years, figures the United States rushed to dispute Sunday.

The rejection of the figures compiled by the Iraqi ministries of defense, interior, and health comes at a delicate time. The U.S. military has pronounced Iraq's security stabilizing and is proceeding with plans to send home all but 50,000 troops by the end of the month, leaving Iraq's nascent security forces in control. The last U.S. service member is due to leave by the end of 2011.

For Americans in Afghanistan, things were not much better in July, when the 66 U.S. losses surpassed the previous record of 60 in June. At least 270 Afghan civilians were killed in July fighting and nearly 600 wounded - a 29 percent increase over the previous month, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said.

In Iraq, the July death toll - 532 - was the highest since May 2008, when 563 died, heightening concerns over the country's precarious security nearly five months after a parliamentary election produced no clear winner. The political impasse worsened over the weekend, when a Shiite bloc nominally allied with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition announced its rejection of his candidacy for a second term.

The new figures suggested that a resilient insurgency is taking advantage of the political deadlock and showed the difficulties of achieving a political solution in a polarized society like Iraq's, where ethnic and religious groups compete for power regardless of national interests.

The U.S. military countered that its own data showed 222 Iraqis had been killed in July, less than half the government's count. "We do our very best to be vigilant to ensure the numbers we report are as accurate as can be," Lt. Col. Bob Owen, a spokesman, said in defense of the military's numbers.

An Associated Press tally indicated that at least 350 Iraqis were killed in July, but that figure is considered a minimum based on news reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted.

The three Iraqi ministries release casualty figures each month, but the numbers have rarely, if ever, been so strongly disputed by the U.S. military as it worries about creating an image of withdrawing too soon.

With U.S. forces out of Iraqi cities since June 2009, insurgents seem to be focusing their attacks on Iraqi security forces and Shiite civilians. Of those killed in July, 89 were policemen and 50 were service members.

U.S. service members have largely been left alone, and their casualties have mostly been in the single digits recently, pointing to their diminishing role on the ground.

AP's count shows four U.S. troops were killed in July.



Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20100802_U_S__military_disputes_Iraq_s_casualty_list.html#ixzz0vR2WtdRP
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