The Common Ills: 1057 violent deaths in Iraq for July, the UN says

Thursday, August 01, 2013

1057 violent deaths in Iraq for July, the UN says

On the first day of the month, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq issued their totals for violent deaths and the number of people left injured in July:

Baghdad, 1 August 2013 – According to casualty figures released today by UNAMI, a total of 1,057 Iraqis were killed and another 2,326 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in July.

The number of civilians killed was 928 (including 204 civilian police), while the number of civilians injured was 2,109 (including 338 civilian police). A further 129 members of the Iraqi Security Forces were killed and 217 were injured.

“The impact of violence on civilians remains disturbingly high, with at least 4,137 civilians killed and 9,865 injured since the beginning of 2013,” the Acting Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Mr. Gyorgy Busztin, warned. “We haven’t seen such numbers in more than five years, when the blind rage of sectarian strife that inflicted such deep wounds upon this country was finally abating. I reiterate my urgent call on Iraq’s political leaders to take immediate and decisive action to stop the senseless bloodshed, and to prevent these dark days from returning.”

Baghdad was the worst-affected governorate in July with 957 civilian casualties (238 killed and 719 injured), followed by Salahuddin, Ninewa, Diyala, Kirkuk and Anbar (triple-digit figures).

Babil, Wasit and Basra also reported casualties (double-digit figures).

UNAMI has recently began releasing their tolls. This is the quickest they've gotten the numbers out and they managed that while Gyorgy Busztin serves as the acting UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in Iraq. In terms of the numbers, many outlets are announcing a Hawija moment, such as Yang Yi (Xinhua), "However, April 23 was a turning point in the Sunnis' protests when security forces backed by helicopters stormed a rally in the city of Hawijah, some 220 km north of Baghdad, killing and wounding dozens of protesters."

The Voice of Russia's Rob Sachs speaks with Michael O'Brien about the violence today:

At this point, ten years out, Americans are tired of hearing about violence in Iraq, tired of hearing about efforts to stop it, but why should average Americans care at this point?

Well, you know, that's a real good question. Average Americans probably don't, but if you are an American that believes in right and wrong, if you're an American that believes in consequences, if you're an American that believes in the Constitution and also strictly focused on the defense of our country, then you'd be an American that would be going, "Why did we go over there in 03?" And you'd be an American that would be saying not only that, but "No one has been held accountable for us going there." And I'm talking about American leadership.

And the violence continues today. National Iraqi News Agency reports a Falluja shoot out led to the death of 1 rebel, an Anbar sticky bombing left at least one Sahwa injured, 1 crane operator in Basra has been shot dead, Nouri's forces shot dead 1 truck driver outside of Mosul suspecting him of being a bomber, and a Diyala Province bombing left 1 person dead and another injured.

Asharq al-Aswat reports on a meet-up of the National Iraqi Alliance headed by Ibrahim al-Jaafari, "A statement issued after the meeting said 'the attendees have expressed their great concern about the recent deterioration in the security situation. They stressed the importance of taking necessary and urgent measures to deal with security breaches and intensify efforts to instill security'."

How does Nouri deal with such concerns?

All Iraq News reports: "The Commander General for Armed Forces, Nouri al-Maliki instructed the Ground Forces Command, Baghdad Operations Command and the Anti-Terrorism Department to launch raids and search campaigns in some areas in Baghdad and its outskirts."

Yet again, Nouri's 'answer' requires pissing off a lot of people.

The following community sites -- plus the Guardian and Antiwar.com -- updated last night and this morning plus Wally's "THIS JUST IN! WHERE HIS ATTENTION IS!" which isn't showing up on the link list:

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