In "U.S.: Civilian deaths feeding insurgency," Nancy A. Youssef noted the following for Knight Ridder (it was still Knight Ridder on Monday when her story ran):
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The death of civilians at the hands of U.S. troops has fueled the insurgency in Iraq, according to a top-level U.S. military commander, who said U.S. officials began keeping records of these deaths last summer.
Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who as head of the Multinational Force-Iraq is the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, said the number of civilian dead and wounded is an important measurement of how effectively U.S. forces are interacting with the Iraqi people.
"We have people who were on the fence or supported us who in the last two years or three years have in fact decided to strike out against us. And you have to ask: Why is that? And I would argue in many instances we are our own worst enemy,'' Chiarelli said.
Chiarelli said he reviews the figures daily. If fewer civilians are killed, "I think that will make our soldiers safer,'' Chiarelli said.
U.S. officials previously have said they don't keep track of civilian causalities, and Iraqi officials stopped releasing numbers of U.S.-caused casualties after Knight Ridder reported in September 2004 that the Iraqi Ministry of Health had attributed more than twice as many civilian deaths to the actions of U.S. forces than to "terrorist'' attacks during the period from June to September 2004.
We're not sure whether Youssef committed a fashion faux pas or was simply ahead of the curve, but we know for some reason, the story didn't get traction. To nutshell it: The US Government is keeping figures on the deaths of Iraqi civilians. It is now confirmed. It would be news but you'd have to hear or read about it for that to happen and instead of following this, too many reporters got caught up in al-Maliki's peace 'scam' and what 8 or 10 resistance groups might do (8 or 10 out of how many groups throughout the country?).
It's news. Apparently, we're supposed to keep it on the down-low. (For those who are members of The Common Ills community, Mike has a column in today's Polly's Brew letting you know who was contacted and passed on linking to or noting the story. It's a long list, be prepared to be disgusted.)