After Years of Secrecy, a Glimpse into the Numbers of Civilians Dead in Iraq

By James Glanz
NYT

As sectarian violence drove the number of civilian deaths in Iraq to thousands per month in 2006 and 2007, many Iraqi ministries, morgues and hospitals were under government order not to release the embarrassing figures, and the prime minister’s office generally disputed the ones that did leak out.

American forces in Iraq were no more helpful, often refusing to release figures or claiming that they did not exist. Obtaining information on the deaths was an exhausting, grisly and often clandestine affair, and — Iraq being Iraq — no two sets of figures ever seemed to match exactly.

But now that the estimated deaths are down to hundreds per month or even fewer, the figures are beginning to appear, as if by magic, in United States government reports complete with easy-to-read charts and careful footnotes. The the sources identified in the footnotes, however, still don’t precisely match.

The latest report, dated Sept. 17, is by the Congressional Research Service. A copy of the report was posted online by Secrecy News, a publication of the Federation of American Scientists.

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