U.S. defends method of count of Iraq violence

Limiting the numbers better reflects Baghdad violence, officials say.

In a distinction previously undisclosed, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said Friday that the United States is including in its tabulations of sectarian violence only deaths of individuals killed in drive-by shootings or by torture and execution.

That has allowed U.S. officials to say that the number of deaths from sectarian violence in Baghdad declined by more than 52 percent in August over July.

It eliminates from tabulation huge numbers of people whose deaths are certainly part of the ongoing conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

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