When a death is a murder

So we know that the Administration will lie about anything. As such, that striking reduction in murders in Baghdad claimed by the military is bullshit. From the AP:

The American military did not count people killed by bombs, mortars, rockets or other mass attacks including suicide bombings when it reported a dramatic drop in the number of murders in the Baghdad area last month, the U.S. command said Monday.

The decision to include only victims of drive-by shootings and those killed by torture and execution, usually at the hands of death squads, allowed U.S. officials to argue that a security crackdown that began in the capital Aug. 7 had more than halved the city's murder rate.

But the types of slayings, including suicide bombings, that the U.S. excluded from the category of "murder" were not made explicit at the time.

What the fuck? The Administration does not have the decency or respect to tally a death as a murder unless the poor bastard suffered a bit before meeting his maker. Seriously, these dicks tried to push the phrase “homicide bomber” into the lexicon. But now that “homicide bombing” deaths are screwing up the bottom line, that notion is no longer operative. So homicide no longer equates to murder people – get it straight. Oy.

These are horrible, despicable people who will say anything to cast the glimmer of success on their failed policies. This is just more of the same.

BTW– Am I the only one reminded of when Marion Barry claimed that “If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate”?