Just another year in the life and death of Iraq II

By Michael J.W. Stickings

In case you haven't been paying attention, 2006 was a pretty bad year for Iraq:

Nearly 35,000 civilians were killed last year in Iraq, the United Nations said Tuesday, a sharp increase from the numbers reported previously by the Iraqi government.

Gianni Magazzeni, the chief of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, said 34,452 civilians were killed and 36,685 were wounded last year.

Iraqi government figures in early January put last year's civilian death toll at 12,357. When asked about the difference, Magazzeni said the U.N. figures were compiled from information obtained through the Iraqi Health Ministry, hospitals across the country and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad.

Conservative estimates from the U.N., one suspects, no matter the rosy picture the Iraqi government tries to paint. Is is even possible to put a number on such violence?

And now, of course -- The Surge.

Fantastic. Happy 2007, everyone.