Baghdad is Burning - Again

Bush is probably happy to have Foley dominate the MSM because the shit is hitting the fan again in Iraq. 17 troops have been killed since Saturday. On Monday alone 113 bodies were found. From The NYT U.S. Reports 4 More Soldiers Were Killed Monday By MICHAEL LUO Published: October 3, 2006 BAGHDAD, Oct. 3 — The American military reported today that a roadside bomb killed four soldiers on patrol here on Monday, bringing the total number of American troops killed that day to at least eight. The death toll was the highest so far for American troops in Iraq’s capital since American and Iraqi soldiers began a stepped-up military campaign to stem the violence here. ............................ The rash of deaths in Baghdad on Monday was part of an unusually deadly few days for American troops in Iraq. At least 17 American soldiers have been killed since Saturday, all in Baghdad or Anbar province, where fierce fighting continues between American soldiers and Sunni Arab insurgents, and casualties have been climbing. From Juan Cole: Iraqi security forces found 113 bodies There is an enormous discrepancy between the casualty figures reported by al-Zaman [The Times of Baghdad] (Ar.) and those of the Western wire services. The Iraqi newspaper reports that Iraqi security forces found 113 bodies in the streets on Monday, including 50 in Baghdad, 50 in Kut, and 31 elsewhere. I believe that al-Zaman's numbers are the right ones, and that the Western press has been vastly under-reporting deaths in Iraq.