Revealing statistics about the death toll in Iraq

[ProSense]

from this article:

Dhurgham Majed al Malik, 48, whose family has arranged burial services for generations, said that this spring, private cars and taxis with caskets lashed to their roofs arrived at a rate of 6,500 a month. Now it's 4,000 or less, he said.

Malik said that the daily tide of cars bearing coffins has been a barometer of Iraq's violence for years. The number of burials rose and fell several times during Saddam Hussein's persecution of Shiites, and it soared again during the eight years of the Iran - Iraq war in the 1980s.

Then in the 1990s, the daily average fell to 150 or less, Malik said. With the current war, the burials again reached 300 daily.

In the early days of the war, some bodies brought for burial had been victims of Saddam, found by their families in unmarked mass graves. Later, there were surges; September 2005 marked a high point after a stampede during a Shiite Muslim festival killed hundreds on a Baghdad bridge. More than 1,300 were buried in a single day, Malik said.

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(emphasis added)

One day the world is going to find out how many Iraqis have died in Bush's illegal war

[ProSense]

1. Media rushing reports about drop in violence

Better Numbers

Is the media implying that Iraq's civil war is over: only four people killed in Baghdad Saturday

Iraq bombs kill 11 in Baghdad, northern city-police

Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:51am EDT

BAGHDAD, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Vehicle bombs targeting an Iraqi army patrol in Baghdad and a police station in northern Iraq on Tuesday killed at least 11 people and wounded 105, police said.

While levels of violence in parts of Baghdad and surrounding areas have declined since the U.S. military sent an extra 30,000 troops this year to quell violence, there has been a spate of car bomb attacks on Iraqi police and security forces.

<...>

Three soldiers and three civilians died when a car bomb parked in central Baghdad exploded near an Iraqi army patrol. Five soldiers and 20 civilians were wounded.

A truck bomb in the northern city of Mosul destroyed a police station, killing four policemen, a woman and wounding 80 people, police said.

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[ProSense]

2. Extremist bombers hit hard again in Iraq

Extremist bombers hit hard again in Iraq

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 34 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - An explosives-laden sewage truck blew up near a police station and a car bomb struck an Iraqi army checkpoint Tuesday — attacks that bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida and showed extremists can still hit hard despite recent gains by U.S.-led forces.

A U.S. military spokesman said the terror network is on the run in some areas, but it "obviously remains very lethal."

The bombings and a series of shootings mainly targeted Iraqi security forces and tribal leaders facing internal rivalries, but bystanders also were struck. At least 25 people were killed or found dead nationwide.

The deadliest attack occurred when a car blew up near a gas station across the street from an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing four civilians and two Iraqi soldiers and wounding 25 others.

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Guess victory over al-Qaeda meme wasn't working out too well.