Iraqi Police and Security Forces Casualties Estimates

November 17, 2006 – January 7, 2009 RS22532

This report presents various governmental and non-governmental estimates of Iraqi police and security forces fatalities. The Department of Defense (DOD) regularly updates total U.S. military deaths and wounded statistics from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), as reflected in CRS Report RS21578, Iraq: U.S. Casualties, by Susan G. Chesser, and has released the monthly pattern of Iraqi security forces deaths. For information on Iraqi civilian deaths, see CRS Report RS22537, Iraqi Civilian Deaths Estimates, by Hannah Fischer. Because these estimates are based on varying time periods and have been created using differing methodologies, readers should exercise caution when using them and should look on them as guideposts rather than as statements of fact. This report will be updated as needed.

Iraqi Police and Security Forces Casualties Estimates

January 7, 2009 (RS22532)

Summary

This report presents various governmental and non-governmental estimates of Iraqi police and security forces fatalities. The Department of Defense (DOD) regularly updates total U.S. military deaths and wounded statistics from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), as reflected in CRS Report RS21578, Iraq: U.S. Casualties, by [author name scrubbed], and has released the monthly pattern of Iraqi security forces deaths. For information on Iraqi civilian deaths, see CRS Report RS22537, Iraqi Civilian Deaths Estimates, by [author name scrubbed]. Because these estimates are based on varying time periods and have been created using differing methodologies, readers should exercise caution when using them and should look on them as guideposts rather than as statements of fact. This report will be updated as needed.

Iraqi Police and Security Forces Casualties Estimates

In a November 2008 statement in front of the United Nations Security Council, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad announced that the security situation in Iraq had "significantly improved since June 2007."1 According to the Ambassador, the number of overall attacks since June 2007 had decreased by 86 % and Iraqi Security Force deaths decreased by 84% in the same time period.

A Department of Defense (DOD) chart (see Figure 1) also shows a decrease in Iraqi Security Forces deaths over time. Readers should note, however, that the Department of Defense has not released the specific numbers associated with the chart, and that there have been conflicting reports of deaths from news sources and non-profits.

Figure 1. Iraqi Security Forces Deaths, January 2006 - August 2008

Source: CRS rendition of DOD graph, as derived from the Multi-National Corps - Iraq report, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, September 2008, p.22, http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/9010_Report_to_Congress_Sep_08.pdf.

Table 1, below, provides Iraqi security forces and police officers casualty estimates from non-governmental sources, as well as an estimate of deaths using the chart in Figure 1. These estimates are based on varying time periods and have been created using differing methodologies, and therefore readers should exercise caution when using these statistics.

Table 1. Iraqi Security Forces and Police Officers Death and Wounded Estimates

Iraq Body Count estimate of police killed (not including security forces)

January 1, 2006 – November 30, 2008

4884a

Iraq Coalition Casualty Count estimate of security forces and police killed

June 2003 – January 6, 2009

8,867a

Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, estimate of security forces and police killed

June 2003 – December 17, 2008

8,813b

Associated Press, estimate of security forces killed

Associated Press, estimate of security forces wounded

April 28, 2005 – January 4, 2009

6,904c

8,004c

CRS estimate using the Multi-National Corps - Iraq report, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, September 2008

January 2006 - August 2008

approx. 5,737e

a. Iraq Body Count, at http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/numbers/surge-2008/

b. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, "Iraqi Police/Military," at http://icasualties.org.

c. Brookings Institution, Iraq Index: Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, p. 6, at http://www.brookings.edu/saban/iraq-index.aspx.

d. CRS communication with Associated Press, January 5, 2009.

e. Multi-National Corps - Iraq, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, September 2008, p.22, at http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/9010_Report_to_Congress_Sep_08.pdf

Footnotes

1.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, "Statement by Ambassador Khalilzad on Situation in Iraq: Ambassador's Report to U.N. Security Council on Multi-National Force in Iraq," November 14, 2008, http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2008/November/20081114135331eaifas0.3025934.html.