Are they right?
Have they ever been?
Setting aside US service members and focusing on the day the deaths were reported, we note the following tolls. Tuesday September 2nd 17 people were reported dead and 40 injured, September 3rd 3 people were reported dead and 12 wounded, September 4th three people were reported injured, September 5th 18 people were reported dead and 56 wounded, September 6th 6 people were reported dead and 19 injured, September 7th 6 people were reported dead and 2 injured, September 8th 13 people were reported dead and 46 injured, September 9th 7 people were reported dead and 5 wounded, September 10th 1 person was reported dead and 1 wounded, September 11th 2 people were reported dead and 8 wounded. September 12th 18 people were reported dead and 25 were reported injured, September 13th 22 were reported dead and`18 injured, September 14th 12 people were reported dead and 5 wounded, September 15th 19 people were reported dead and 31 injured, September 16th 12 people were reported dead and 9 wounded, September 17th 6 people were reported dead and 11 injured, September 18th 10 people were reported dead and 28 wounded, September 19th 36 people were reported dead and 122 injured, September 20th 3 people were reported dead and 9 wounded, September 21st 5 people were reported dead and 30 injured, September 22nd 6 people were reported dead and 113 wounded, September 23rd 4 people were reported dead and 5 injured, September 24th 7 people were reported dead and 17 wounded, September 26th 9 people were reported dead and 18 injured, September 27th 7 people were reported dead and 15 wounded, September 28th 4 people were reported dead and 26 wounded, September 29th 3 people were reported dead and 20 injured, and September 30th 2 people were reported dead and 3 were reported wounded. Check our math but we get 252 dead and 697 wounded for the month of September.
Those are reported deaths and reported injuries. That's Reuters, McClatchy, Xinhua, New York Times and CNN mainly. The Ministry's figures are 21 higher on death and much, much lower on the wounded (212).
As we have asked many times before, why aren't news outlets keeping their own tallies? They report deaths and wounded, why don't they have a tally? When McClatchy Newspapers was Knight Ridder, they were required to keep a tally. No more.
Violence is not down in Iraq. It's spin and it's as fake -- yeah, we're going to go there -- as news outlets deciding to take September 1st off from violence to give Barack a golden 24 hours of 'peace' after he declared combat operations over (violence continued on September 1st, news consumers just had to wait a day or two for news outlets to report it).
And maybe it's time to talk about some realities of war. The death toll? It's the end of the story for those who die. That's awful. But the wounded? Many of them won't be able to earn their livelihoods and, if you haven't notice, Nouri's been prime minister for over four years now and the Iraqi government has demonstrated no real inclination to offer assistance to victims. In other words, the wounded toll, that's the one that's going to determine Iraq's future. (The brain drain early in the illegal war long ago decided that the death toll would be less important.)
Nearly 700 people were wounded last month in violence -- reported wounded -- there are always many more deaths and injuries that never get reported. Of those 700, a significant number will be unable to join or rejoin the Iraqi work force now or when the illegal war is finally over.