IRAQI BLOODBATH: 14,000 dead since January 1st

[ShaneGR]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/18/iraq.main/index.html

(snip)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- More than 14,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq in the first half of this year, an ominous figure reflecting the fact that "killings, kidnappings and torture remain widespread" in the war-torn country, a United Nations report says.

Killings of civilians are on "an upward trend," with more than 5,800 deaths and more than 5,700 injuries reported in May and June alone, it says.

The report, a bimonthly document produced by the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, covers May and June, and includes chilling casualty figures and ugly anecdotes from the insurgent and sectarian warfare that continues to rage despite the establishment of a national unity government and a security crackdown in Baghdad.

The report lists examples of bloody suicide bombs aimed at mosques, attacks on laborers, the recovery of slain bodies, the assassinations of judges, the killings of prisoners, the targeting of clergy -- all incidents dutifully reported by media over these three-plus years of chaos in the streets.

The U.N. agency says it has been made aware since last year of the targeting of homosexuals, "increasingly threatened and extra-judicially executed by militias and 'death squads' because of their sexual orientation."

[Fridays Child]

1. But George got to slice a pig in Germany.

As long as he's having fun, isn't that what really matters here?

[chelsea0011]

2. And over 100 killed in the last couple of days. But Israel/Hezzbollah

is the media mantra for the moment. It kills me how they completely zoom in on stories to the detriment of all others. There are two serial killers in Phoenix. That's a story that the cable news usually salivates over.