U.N. Reports Yet Higher Civilian Deaths in Bloody Baghdad And Rest Of Iraq

While Mr. Bush merely acts annoyed, as if the Iraqi people are deliberately trying to thwart his idea of a good time (not to mention how he'd like to paint himself as a benevolent tyranter..nude emperor...uh... big honcho), the people of Iraq die in record numbers in our continued occupation - and cakewalk! - of three years, eight months, and five days.

Welcome to the deadliest month ever in Iraq:

The United Nations said Wednesday that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the highest monthly toll since the March 2003 U.S. invasion and another sign of the severity of Iraq's sectarian bloodbath.

The U.N. tally was more than three times higher than the total The Associated Press had tabulated for the month, and far more than the 2,866 U.S. service members who have died during all of the war.

The report on civilian casualties, handed out at a U.N. news conference in Baghdad, said the influence of militias was growing, and torture continued to be rampant, despite the government's vow to address human rights abuses.

"Hundreds of bodies continued to appear in different areas of Baghdad handcuffed, blindfolded and bearing signs of torture and execution-style killing," the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq report said. "Many witnesses reported that perpetrators wear militia attire and even police or army uniforms."

The report painted a grim picture across the board, from attacks on journalists, judges and lawyers and the worsening situation of women to displacement, violence against religious minorities and the targeting of schools.

Based on figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry, the country's hospitals and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad, the report said October's figure was higher than July's previously unprecedented civilian death toll of 3,590.

"I think the type of violence is different in the past few months," Gianni Magazzeni, the UNAMI chief in Baghdad, told the news conference. "There was a great increase in sectarian violence in activities by terrorists and insurgents, but also by militias and criminal gangs."

Over 100 people died just today (recent average of at least 120 dead per day).

And remember, this reflects ONLY those deaths officially counted. We have no idea how many more die on an hourly basis which are never counted for the record books.

More and more women and children, as well as journalists, lawyers, and doctors, not to mention educators are being targeted than ever before.