In case you wondered why the White House wasn’t officially keeping or reporting on Iraqi casualties since our re-invasion, this wire service story might shed some light on the omission:
Americans are keenly aware of how many U.S. forces have lost their lives in Iraq, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll. But they woefully underestimate the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed.
When the poll was conducted earlier this month, a little more than 3,100 U.S. troops had been killed. The midpoint estimate among those polled was right on target, at about 3,000.[...]
Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated at more than 54,000 and could be much higher; some unofficial estimates range into the hundreds of thousands. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq reports more than 34,000 deaths in 2006 alone.
Among those polled for the AP survey, however, the median estimate of Iraqi deaths was 9,890. The median is the point at which half the estimates were higher and half lower.
It’s true that civilian deaths are an unfortunate byproduct of invasion and civil war. However, I can’t help but wonder how much sooner public opinion would have soured…or how much more sour it would be…if the casualty tally were more widely known.