Iraq: Another Month, More Deception

Veterans for Peace volunteers set up coffins representing Iraq deaths

For the second month in a row, the Pentagon is playing games with the casualty numbers in Iraq.

As reported here in our monthly roundup, some 81 deaths were recorded for the month of August despite the Bush administration hyping that the number would be below 80 – ie., more evidence that the surge was working.

But when the sun came up over Washington this morning, the official number had been bumped to 84 deaths, which effectively puts the lie to the White House talking point that the numbers are going down each month.

As Charles Amico notes at We the People:

"It proves we were deceived for political reasons again by this Administration . . . In fact, it turns out that this August was just like any other August of the war, it surpassed the number of deaths in July as it has for the past 4 years."

I know that the Bushies can't help themselves and that lying comes as easily as brushing their teeth and taking a dump in the morning. But we're not talking about adjusting the number for soybean futures. We're talking about men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice -- and whose families are being crassly manipulated for political purposes even as they bury and mourn their loved ones.

Photograph by The Associated Press