Iraq Body Count (iraqbodycount.net).

Civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq: Min 38764, Max 43192.

Another good resource. The Institute for Policy Studies: The Iraq War (ips-dc.org). As of this writing, many of the articles haven't been updated since April, but are still good resources, because nothing has improved since then, and so the information offered is still highly relevant.

A practical item: Ending the Iraq Quagmire: A Real Exit Strategy, a PDF outlining the steps for the U.S. to execute an effective, orderly withdrawal that leaves the Iraqis in charge. Included are the withdrawal of the economic laws that the U.S. has passed to its own benefit, and restrictions on debt forgiveness which would favor international investors over Iraqis.

Non-random violence. GIs May Have Planned Iraq Rape, Slayings (washingtonpost.com, 7/1/06) reports that the group from which the accused soldiers came appears to have been a victim of vengeance attacks associated with the crime, the aftermath of which inspired soldiers who were aware of the crime to come forward.

I still find it peculiar that this story is being publicized. The foreign press has reported many such crimes, going back to the treatment of women in Abu Ghraib (some of whom appeared on films shown to various U.S. government officials as part of their abuse investigation), but our newspapers routinely gloss over such things. Until now. I suspect that by the time revelations of the abuse of female prisoners (and children) were revealed to the U.S. media, they believed the Abu Ghraib story was already out of fashion, but I'm still unsure why this story is making the papers, and the others are passed over. Is it the foreign press' graphic coverage? Something about this unit, aside from the possible revenge killings? I hope the reason this incident is being separated out from the others is revealed.

The longer we're there, the more things like this will surface: another reason to bring the troops home. Troops Facing Murder Probe (washingtonpost.com, 6/30/06):

The case in Mahmudiyah, a rural town in a Sunni Arab region dubbed the Triangle of Death for the insurgent attacks and crimes that are common there, was the latest in a string of allegations of unlawful killings -- and subsequent coverups -- by U.S. forces in recent months, beginning with reports in March that Marines killed 24 unarmed civilians in the western town of Haditha. Investigations continue into that case.

In June, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged with murder and other crimes related to the shooting death of a crippled man in Hamdaniya, west of Baghdad. Residents there said the soldiers planted a rifle and a shovel near the victim's body to make it look as if he had been burying roadside bombs.

Later in June, three soldiers were charged with murdering three Iraqi detainees in U.S. custody and threatening to kill another soldier who saw the incident. And last week, two Pennsylvania National Guardsmen were charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed man in the western city of Ramadi and with trying to cover up the crime.

I know I've been quoting the Washington Post quite heavily of late, but their coverage has been succinct and quite good for getting an overview of the situation. I recommend them.

From military victory to peace: reframing US goals for Iraq. For the past few years of war, the pro-war camp's underlying theme has been the same: the U.S. cannot leave Iraq until the U.S. WINS.

Winning has been redefined several times already. Winning meant finding Weapons of Mass Destruction. Those didn't exist, so winning became capturing Saddam Hussein. He wasn't the entire problem, so winning became installing a new government - ANY government - in Iraq. This plan was revised several times, when it became clear that a hand-picked puppet government wouldn't suffice, and that there was plenty of agitation for democracy. So installing a passable democratic, non-proportionately-representative government that could still allow us to take oil was next. The interim government didn't count, the 'unity' government is just getting established, but the country has been in a spiral descent toward civil war. This prevented 'rebuilding Iraq' from being the next measure of success. Winning is being redefined again, sometimes associated with defeating the less pro-US side(s) of the civil war, sometimes not with any clear goals. But peace? Peace isn't usually a word that comes up in this context.

A Road Map Home ( washingtonpost.com, 6/28/06) discusses the idea of winning the peace.

I asked Khalilzad how he would answer members of Congress who are indignant that insurgents who opposed the U.S. occupation might be pardoned by the Iraqi government. 'They need to understand that we want this conflict to end,' he said, and stressed that Iraqi and American hopes of reducing U.S. forces can be achieved only if the insurgents agree to stop fighting and recognize the Iraqi government's authority. 'The biggest thing we can do to honor those who sacrificed here is to achieve the cause they fought for' by creating a peaceful and democratic Iraq, he said.

What is proposed is controversial to Americans, who have reduced the current conflict to one between good guys (our side and our allies) and bad guys (everyone else), and under our rules, bad guys should always be punished. The idea of reconciliation is... abstract.

But it's being proposed. By someone other than the U.S. Which is novel: the U.S. hasn't been especially open to proposals for Iraq that do not originate somewhere within the U.S. White House. But it happened.