Release of data on Iraqi killings urged-Variations in Pentagon's numbers eyed

[babylonsister]

The Boston Globe
Release of data on Iraqi killings urged
Variations in Pentagon's numbers eyed

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | September 8, 2007

WASHINGTON - Members of Congress urged the Pentagon yesterday to declassify its data on sectarian killings, just days before General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, is expected to report a dramatic decrease in the level of violence between the Sunni and Shi'ite sects.

Petraeus reportedly told an Australian newspaper that the violence had plunged by 75 percent. But analysts question whether the figure is credible.

Yesterday, David Walker, the comptroller general for the Government Accountability Office, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the methods the Pentagon used to compile its data were too subjective and inconsistent to be meaningful. Walker told the committee that his office "could not get comfortable" with the way the Pentagon calculated such a steep drop in sectarian violence.

more...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/09/08/release_of_data_on_iraqi_killings_urged/