Civilian Death Toll Falls in Baghdad but Rises Across Iraq
Turner
September 2, 2007
Civilian Death Toll Falls in Baghdad but Rises Across Iraq
By JAMES GLANZ
BAGHDAD, Sept. 1 - Newly released statistics for Iraqi civilian deaths
in August reflect the strikingly mixed security picture that has
emerged from a gradual six-month increase in American troop strength
here: the number of deaths across the country rose by about 20 percent
since July, but in the capital itself, the number dropped sharply.
The figures, provided by Iraqi Interior Ministry officials on
Saturday, mirrored the geographic pattern of the troop increase, which
is focused on Baghdad. The national rise in mortality is partly a
result of the enormous death toll, more than 500, in a truck bomb
attack that struck a Yazidi community in August north of the capital,
outside the areas directly affected by the additional troops.
As Ryan C. Crocker, the American ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. David H.
Petraeus, the top commander of military forces here, prepare to brief
Congress on the progress of the troop increase, Iraqi politicians,
clearly recognizing what is at stake, view the new figures through the
lens of how their parties hope that Congress will assess the situation
in Iraq.
"We were hoping the figures would go down, but what happened was
expected," said Haidar al-Ebadi, who sits in Parliament as a senior
member of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's Dawa Party. The troop
increase made it harder for insurgent groups to operate in Baghdad, he
said, so they pushed outward to easier targets.
"I believe that we should not read these numbers as an assessment of
the security plan," Mr. Ebadi said. "The security plan was a success
so far."
Other Iraqis see the rising violence in the countryside in August as
proof that the overall American plan in Iraq is failing. Saleh al-
Mutlak, who leads the National Dialogue Front, a hard-line Sunni
group, said the American and Iraqi security plan had failed to achieve
its goals, opening the door to more attacks.
"I think the reason is the loss of confidence in the security plan and
the political process, which drove people to become desperate and
resort to violence," he said.
American and Iraqi government officials here are extremely reluctant
to provide regular, comprehensive figures for civilian deaths, making
it difficult to compile accurate data. But figures provided to The New
York Times by an Interior Ministry official who asked to remain
anonymous indicated that 2,318 civilians died violently in the country
in August, compared with 1,980 in July.
Statistics compiled from Iraqi government sources by Reuters and The
Associated Press also showed significant increases, although the
precise figures varied.
But the figures provided by the Interior Ministry official show a drop
in deaths within Baghdad, to 656 in August from 896 in July.
Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a spokesman for the American-led
multinational forces here, said the troop increase had been intended
to give Iraqi political parties a chance to settle some of their
differences.
"The surge of operations was focused on improving security in Baghdad,
and we have seen some progress - not as much as we want," Colonel
Garver said. "It's a neighborhood-by-neighborhood thing. But it's
progress."
Colonel Garver acknowledged that as a result of the operations in
Baghdad, militias and insurgent groups had been trying to establish
networks north of the capital. "You see attacks up north in part
because it's harder to move around Baghdad if you're a terrorist," he
said. "It's harder to bring car bombs in."
Even as the mortality figures suggested improvements in security
within Baghdad, fresh signs emerged of turmoil within the Baghdad
police force, which will ultimately be called upon to sustain any
gains.
American soldiers and Iraqi national police officers have disbanded
the force at a local police station in Khadra, a Sunni-dominated
neighborhood in western Baghdad, the United States military said in a
statement on Saturday. The officers at the station failed to stop
criminal and insurgent activity in the area, and roadside bombs were
often found less than 100 yards from police checkpoints, the military
said.
The role of the national police force in the local cleanup was
jarring, given its own reputation for disloyalty and inefficiency.
American officials said Thursday that an independent commission
created by Congress would recommend overhauling the national police to
purge it of Shiite militia members and corrupt officers.
Maj. Andy Yerkes, who leads an American team advising the national
police in Baghdad, said many of the Shiite-dominated force simply act
as "turnstiles" if death squads for the Mahdi Army arrive at their
checkpoints: standing aside and letting their fellow Shiites through
to do their work in Sunni areas.
"I get frustrated because there are really good men out there who
don't want to be turnstiles," he added. "But at the same time, if they
stop something, they don't want their father or mother to be killed."
Reporting was contributed by Damien Cave, Stephen Farrell, Ali Adeeb
and Ahmad Fadam.