Quote from vhehn:
these are just reported deaths. many slip under the radar. An average of more than 110 Iraqis were killed each day in July, according to the figures. The total number of civilian deaths that month, 3,438, is a 9 percent increase over the tally in June and nearly double the toll in January.
Ok, so it's not "thousands weekly."
I found more info:
UN: Nearly 6,600 Iraqi civilians killed in July, August
POSTED: 1:21 p.m. EDT, September 20, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Violence killed nearly 6,600 Iraqi civilians during July and August, while more than 8,000 were wounded, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq.
More than 20,600 Iraqi civilians have died in attacks so far this year, according to UNAMI.
The carnage included a string of execution-style slayings, mortar and rocket attacks as well as suicide bombings apparently targeting civilians.
Most of the killings detailed in the report released Wednesday happened in Baghdad.
The data was based on information provided by Iraq's Ministry of Health and the Baghdad morgue.
The report said a reduction in casualties in Baghdad between July and August may reflect "a degree of improved security" as a result of Operation Together Forward -- a security clampdown conducted by U.S. and Iraqi forces in several city neighborhoods.
There were 2,884 civilians killed in Baghdad in July. In August, 2,222 people were killed, according to the report.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/20/iraq.main/index.html
Quote from vhehn:
how do you know the bloodbath would be worse than it is today? that is speculation.
Now, if that is the situation, with most of the carnage occurring in Baghdad, doesn't it stand to reason that the withdrawal of security from the entire country would naturally engulf those areas outside of Baghdad, not to mention that the death toll in Baghdad would rise as well?
Is that "speculation"?