washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines Quote:
By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, May 24, 2007; Page A01
BAGHDAD, May 23 -- More than three months into a U.S.-Iraqi security offensive designed to curtail sectarian violence in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, Health Ministry statistics show that such killings are rising again.
From the beginning of May until Tuesday, 321 unidentified corpses, many dumped and showing signs of torture and execution, have been found across the Iraqi capital, according to morgue data provided by a Health Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. The data showed that the same number of bodies were found in all of January, the month before the launch of the Baghdad security plan.
The number of unidentified corpses found in the Iraqi capital ¿ a key indicator of sectarian violence ¿ is rising following declines in recent months. U.S. and Iraqi officials have cited the declines as a sign of progress for the Baghdad security plan, which began Feb. 14. Security forces also have been unable to curtail mass-casualty attacks, mainly against Shiite targets. |
For the last two months the administration has pointed to a reduction in sectarian killings in Baghdad as evidence of "surge" success. But just like every surge attempted over the last 4 years, this one has failed to keep that important statistic in check. The "surge" is failing, as predicted.
May 24, 2007, 03:36 pm
