Forgotten victims

Patrick Cockburn reports from Iraq:

Iraqi officials demanded to know yesterday why so little international attention was being given to their numerous dead as the US mourned the death of 1,000 soldiers since the invasion of Iraq.

"When I heard on television that the Americans had lost 1,000 military killed in Iraq, I asked myself, what about our side? What is the number of Iraqis who have died?" said Dr Amer al-Khuzaie, an Iraqi deputy health minister.

Nobody really knows and, worse, the media don't seem to care too much, but the AP estimates between 10,000 and 30,000 Iraqis killed since the glorious liberation of March 2003.