Petraeus: Troop buildup working in Iraq, as evident by drop in "sectarian" deaths

The top U.S. general in Iraq, Lieutenant General David Petraeus, today said there had been a 75 percent drop in ethnic and religious killings in Iraq since last year, a doubling in the number of seizures of insurgent weapons caches between January and August, a drop in the number of coalition deaths from roadside bombs, and an increase in the killing and capture of al-Qaida fighters.

The next logical question is...are we counting sectarian deaths differently than other kinds of deaths in Iraq? That's crucial, isn't it? Are overall deaths in Iraq up or down since the surge began? From what I've read elsewhere, overall killings in Iraq have been significantly higher since the surge started. Is that not correct? I think most people consider dead to mean dead. Regular people don't usually make a distinction between different kinds of dead people when it comes to war casualties.

The BBC World Service is monitoring the surge's effects, week by week, by looking at casualty figures, the pressure on hospitals and quality of life for ordinary civilians. Looking at the following BBC chart, it sure doesn't look like casualties are trending down to me.



UPDATE 9/1/2007: Civilian deaths from violence in Iraq rose 7% in August

• August 31, 2007

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