Civilian Deaths in Iraq Down 36 Percent

A couple things about this report:

1. Its really a good news/bad news report. Civilian deaths are down, but American casualties are high.

2. I'm too lazy to research it, but my gut feeling is civilian deaths have not dropped despite what this anonymous source says.
The news reports list Iraqi civilian deaths every day. You can take that for what its worth.

The fact the third paragraph starts out with "At least 1,227..." suggests the body count could be higher.

Iraqi civilian deaths dropped to their lowest level since the start of the Baghdad security operation, government figures showed Sunday, suggesting signs of progress in tamping down violence in the capital.

But American casualties are running high as U.S. forces step up pressure on Sunni and Shiite extremists in and around Baghdad.

At least 1,227 Iraqi civilians were killed in June along with 190 policemen and 31 soldiers, an officer at the Iraqi Interior Ministry's operations room said. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the figures.

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