Iraqi deaths spike in March
Deaths among Iraqi civilians, security forces and insurgents jumped in March because of the recent spasm of violence in the country’s Shiite regions, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.
As an Iraqi woman grieves over the body of a Shiite militiaman during his funeral Monday in Najaf, Iraq.
“It’s obvious that the [number of] killed and wounded have increased because of the military operation in Basra and the violence that erupted across the country after the operation started,” the official said.
A government offensive that started last week in the southern city of Basra targeting “outlaws” resulted in tough fighting between troops and Shiite militants. Clashes spread to other southern cities and parts of Baghdad, leaving hundreds dead and wounded.
On Tuesday a U.S. airstrike targeted militia fighters in eastern Baghdad’s Sadr City district, the heart of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s support in the capital. The U.S. military did not release casualty figures from that attack, but denied reports from Iraqi authorities that civilians were killed in the strike.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday said the ongoing military operation in Basra is a “legitimate” effort that has been a success.
April 4, 2008 at 9:11 pm
What defines a “success”? Clearly, the region is experiencing mass casualties and is still far from stable. If Fish’s notion that Islam is incompatible with democracy is indeed true, then it is impossible to bring democracy to a country such as Iraq. The ideals of Islam and the Ideals of Islam simply are not cohesive. The war effort in Iraq is essentially pointless. Many feel that the fallen soldiers and mass bloodshed, must be justified by completing the task of securing Iraq’s government. Unfortunately, this may never be a possibility.
April 22, 2008 at 7:02 pm
The comment before mine raises a good point, is Iraq compatibly with democracy? The casualties in Iraq are piling up and show that there is much conflict. As time goes on and the death toll increases, one must wonder if the war effort in Iraq is pointless. Good post, I find this to be one of the more interesting and important issues that are taking place in our world today. This also relates to our paper that we just completed, for within our paper we had to talk about whether Islam and democracy can work together.