Record number of bodies turns up in Baghdad The toll, 76, is the highest yet for a 24-hour period

BAGHDAD — The bodies of 76 unidentified people were recovered Wednesday in Baghdad, police said, the highest 24-hour toll for the anonymous slayings that have become a grim part of life in the capital.

All of the victims were men between the ages of 20 and 50. Although they died violently, all shot with automatic weapons, the men were not slain execution-style — no handcuffs or blindfolds, morgue staff members said. Only a few showed signs of torture.

They were not the only bodies delivered to the morgue Wednesday.

There were victims of drive-by shootings, assassinations and bombings, police said. The corpses included that of a Yarmouk Hospital morgue worker who usually receives the dead. In all, an additional 26 Iraqis were killed around the country, most of them in Baghdad.

more:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq21dec21,1,3722046.story?track=rss

so sez any number of right wing pundits.

IRAQ: Muhammad Abdel Kader, Iraq, "I never made so many coffins a day"
20 Dec 2006 14:58:50 GMT

BAGHDAD, 20 December (IRIN) - "My name is Muhammad Abdel Kader. I am 36 years old and live in the Ejidida neighbourhood of Baghdad with my parents, wife and only son. I have lived in Baghdad all my life. I have been making coffins since I was 24 to help with the family income.

I work non-stop, 12 hours a day, six days a week. I have never made so many coffins a day in my life. I have to make as many coffins as I can to meet demand in al-Qarah Cemetery.

Before the war, we were making about two or maximum three coffins a day for people who had died from diseases or car accidents. But today we make at least 20 a day for victims of the violence.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/61d9f625d26131e89d3ff13d54b02654.htm