Critics: Iraq underreports death toll

BAGHDAD — Throngs of Iraqis were busily shopping for the weekend when a truck bomb and barrage of rockets ripped apart the market in central Karradah.

Iraqiya television and most Western media outlets reported that 25 were killed and 100 wounded in the July 26 attack, of which virtually no images were shown.

But less than a week later, the names of 92 dead and 127 wounded were posted on a list taped to a shuttered storefront. It was compiled by municipal and civil-defense crews that led the rescue efforts.

The disparity in official numbers and the ones posted in the market, and apparent differences between government figures and eyewitness accounts after other recent bombings, leaves many Iraqis feeling that the government is intentionally downplaying or trying to cover up the numbers of dead.

"They want to cover up their incompetence," Fawaz Hassan said of the government. "I plead with you ... please deliver the truth to the world. We do not want any compensation. We just want the world to know what happened here."

Hassan and his brother, Haidar, watched on Wednesday as a municipal tractor removed rubble from the scene. Dozens of black funeral banners displaying the names of entire families hung as a kind of testimony to the level of devastation. Four homes were reduced to rubble and a three-story building, which wrapped around an entire block, was gutted. The Hassan brothers lost a nephew, and their brother and sister were badly wounded. Their homes and businesses, on the same street, were destroyed.

Another resident, Maher Hafidh, who helped remove the dead, said his cousin and a neighbor were among the people who are still missing and have yet to be included on the list of dead.

Residents of the Karradah neighborhood were indeed angry with the government and local television stations, namely Iraqiya, for not covering the extent of the tragedy. Some even said residents threw rocks and shoes at Iraqi and Coalition forces and Iraqi officials who had shown up at the scene.

The aftermath of other recent attacks followed a similar pattern.

After a Karradah bombing Wednesday, a car bomber detonated his load on a congested road opposite a gas station.

Fifteen to 20 Iraqis were killed, according to local TV and Western media, which get figures from Iraqi police or anonymous Interior Ministry sources.

Most Iraqis at the scene insisted the toll was much higher. They claimed that dozens died.

One Iraqi official confirmed that the government and its Defense and Interior ministries regularly "underreport" deadly acts of violence despite having all the data.

The official, formerly with a joint U.S.-Iraqi operations center in the Green Zone, who requested anonymity, said the most reliable death tolls are the ones collected by the Ministry of Health.

But a government spokesman denied there has been any manipulation of figures or pressure on television stations, including state-funded Iraqiya, to play down news of violence.

In fact, the station itself has decided to play down the toll of daily violence.

"We want people to forget reality," said Haidar al-Shaaban, an executive at the station, which was founded by the former U.S.-led Occupation Authority but maintains editorial independence.

Al-Shaaban said the station is now committed to spreading good news and broadcasting programs to unite Iraqis. For instance, after the Iraqi soccer team beat Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup, it broadcast nonstop coverage of Iraqis celebrating the win.

The government has taken several steps in recent months to control how acts of violence are reported.

In May, it barred photojournalists and TV crews from bombing scenes. Earlier, it prohibited hospitals and the Ministry of Health from sharing any toll figures with the media. The government has, on several occasions, publicly chastised the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq and nongovernmental organizations for using tolls compiled by media in their reports.

The Associated Press said Wednesday that at least 2,024 Iraqis died violently in July, based on its tally of police reports nationwide. This was 23 percent higher than the June figure of 1,640, making July the second-deadliest month for Iraqis this year. The government has yet to release its figures for the period.

Joost Hiltermann, of the International Crisis Group, said he has little faith in data coming out of Iraq. He said the Iraqi government is too "disorganized and dysfunctional" while the security situation limits the media and other independent bodies from compiling accurate data.