Violence Worse In Iraq

U.S. military casualties have gone up during the surge. The Bush administration have repeatedly stated that U.S. military casualties in Baghdad are down. They will not offer statistics to back their assessment. Here are the numbers from Iraq Coalition Casualities Count.

8-2007 81
7-2007 79
6-2007 101
5-2007 126
4-2007 104
3-2007 81
2-2007 81
1-2007 83
12-2006 112
11-2006 70
10-2006 106
9-2006 72
8-2006 65
7-2006 43
6-2006 61
5-2006 69
4-2006 76

"Sectarian violence has sharply decreased in Baghdad," said President Bush. "The momentum is now on our side. The surge is seizing the initiative from the enemy -- and handing it to the Iraqi people."

McClatchy Newspapers reports that civilian casualities increased. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has made no effort to stop Shi'ite militias from killing the Sunnis. The U.S. military's efforts to contain the violence is failing miserably.

The military has been trying to build walls between neighborhoods and around potential bombing targets. But bombings and sectarian violence still take place.

The number of Iraqis killed in attacks changed only marginally in July when compared with December, down seven from 361 to 354, the McClatchy statistics show.

No pattern of improvement is discernible for violence during the five months of the surge. In January, 438 people were killed in the capital in bombings.

General David Petraeus has launched a successful PR campaign to convince lawmakers to keep the surge going. The good General is proving that it's not the merchandise, but the sales pitch.