Civilian Deaths in Iraq See a Significant Increase

While the Bush administration has consistently touted decreased casualties in Iraq in recent weeks as proof that new counterinsurgency tactics are working, Iraqi civilians are still living in a volatile environment.

In fact, “violent civilian deaths in Iraq rose 36 percent in February from the previous month,” according to Iraq’s interior, defense, and health ministries. The rise from 466 violent civilian deaths in January to 633 in February “was the first increase after six consecutive months of falling casualty tolls.”

“February’s casualty figures spiked after female bombers killed 99 people at two pet markets in Baghdad on February 2 and a suicide bomber killed 63 people returning from a Shi’ite religious ritual south of Baghdad on February 24.”

This material was created for the Progress Report, the daily e-mail publication of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

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