A previously undisclosed Iraqi government tally obtained by The Associated Press shows that at least 87,215 Iraqis have been killed in violence since 2005.

An in-depth AP review shows the total for the entire war exceeds 110,000 Iraqis. That figure is based on the government tally and counts of casualties from earlier years from hospital sources and media reports.

A government official shared the Iraqi death tally on condition of anonymity, providing the most authoritative accounting to date of the war’s toll.

It still excludes thousands of people who are missing and civilians who were buried in the chaos of war without official notice.

Meanwhile, the numbers continued to rise Thursday, as two separate suicide attacks killed at least 54 people.

A suicide bomber struck Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders touring a market after a reconciliation meeting west of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 33 people in the second major attack in the capital area in two days.

Despite the ongoing violence, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said he does not believe the Iraqi government will ask Americans to remain in the country past a 2011 deadline set by a security agreement between the two countries.

The bombing — which left clusters of bodies lying piled near the shabby market stalls lining the road — was part of a spike of violence that comes as the U.S. military begins to draw down its forces.

The bomber detonated an explosives belt as the tribal leaders were walking through the market in the town of Abu Ghraib, accompanied by security officials and journalists, according to the Iraqi military.

Shakir Fizaa, the mayor of Abu Ghraib, blamed al-Qaida in Iraq. He said the tribal leaders had just left his office along with security officials after a reconciliation meeting and were talking to constituents in the market when the bombing occurred.

He said some people were wounded when police opened fire after the attack.

“This terrorist attack was aimed at stopping reconciliation and the improvement in the security situation,” he told The Associated Press. “The criminal attack bears the fingerprints of al-Qaida, but we will not be deterred by the acts of the vicious group against innocent civilians.”

Two Iraqi television journalists from the privately owned Baghdadiya station were among those killed in the attack, and a reporter from the state television was wounded.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but suicide operations are the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq. The U.S. military has said the terror network appears to be stepping up its campaign of bombings as it tries to make a comeback after being battered by recent U.S.-Iraqi military campaigns.

A suicide attacker killed 30 people on Sunday near the police academy in east Baghdad.

Abu Ghraib is a mainly Sunni district that also is the site of the prison where U.S. soldiers were photographed abusing inmates, igniting a scandal that was one of the biggest setbacks to American efforts to win the peace in Iraq.

The area was once one of the most dangerous in Iraq but has seen a sharp decline in violence after a decision by local Sunni tribal leaders to turn against al-Qaida in Iraq.

Recent high-profile attacks have marred an announcement on Sunday by the U.S. military that 12,000 American troops and 4,000 Britons will be withdrawn from the country by September — the first step in fulfilling President Barack Obama’s pledge to end America’s part in the war by the end of 2011.

U.S. troops are to leave the cities by the end of June, and the attacks raise questions about whether Iraqi security forces will be able to cope with the persistent violence.

The 2011 deadline was set in a security agreement that took effect on Jan. 1. There has been speculation the Iraqis may ask the U.S. for an extension.

But Gen. Ray Odierno told The Associated Press in an interview that he has received no indication that Iraqi leaders want that to happen.

Odierno left the door open to the possibility, however, saying “never say never.”

The reconciliation meeting the Sunni and Shiite sheiks were holding before they were attacked was one of many the Iraqi government has been encouraging to heal the rifts between the Muslim sects after years of sectarian violence that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, last week went so far as to call on Iraqis to reconcile with former supporters of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime who have been shunned by the Shiite government that rose to power after the U.S. invasion.

The speech appeared aimed at making political inroads into Sunni areas ahead of national parliamentary elections expected later this year. The prime minister’s allies gained little support in Sunni areas in the Jan. 31 provincial elections.

The Iraqi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information, said 33 people were killed and 46 were wounded in Tuesday’s attack.

But the Iraqi military spokesman’s office put the toll slightly lower, at 28 people were killed and 28 wounded.

Conflicting casualty tolls are common in the chaotic aftermath of bombings.

Two U.S. helicopters crashed Monday in northern Iraq, killing four American troops, the U.S. military said.

The military said the crash happened at about 2:15 a.m. local time and it “does not appear to be by enemy action.”

No precise location was given but a military spokesman said it happened in Tamim province, which includes the oil-rich disputed city of Kirkuk.

Iraqi officials said the crash site was located about 20 miles west of Kirkuk, which is about 180 miles north of Baghdad. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information.

Maj. Derrick Cheng, a spokesman for U.S. forces in northern Iraq, said all the dead were Americans. He declined to give more details or release their names.

The deaths raised to at least 4,236 the number of U.S. service members who have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The U.S. military relies heavily on helicopters and other aircraft to ferry troops, dignitaries and supplies to avoid the threat of ambushes and roadside bombs in Iraq.

At least 70 U.S. helicopters have gone down since the war started in March 2003, according to military figures. Of those, 36 were confirmed to have been shot down.

The most recent previous incident was on Nov. 15, when a helicopter that made a hard landing after hitting wires in the northern city of Mosul killed two American soldiers.

A Russian-made cargo plane chartered by FedEx also crashed in November after reporting a malfunction west of Baghdad, leaving the seven crew members dead.

The Jan. 2005 crash of a U.S. Marine CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter in western Iraq claimed 31 lives — the biggest single U.S. loss of life in the Iraq war. Investigators determined the crash was not due to hostile fire.

President Barack Obama is calling on Israel and Hamas to take steps aimed at ensuring that the cease-fire that’s in place in Gaza will endure.

Weighing in on the conflict for the first time following his inauguration, Obama said that going forward, Hamas must end rocket fire at Israel, and Israel must “complete the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza.” Although those steps were taken this week, low-level violence has marred the fragile cease-fire.

Obama said his administration will support a “credible” system of ending smuggling into Gaza.

He said he’s “deeply concerned” by the loss of life among both Israelis and Palestinians, and by the suffering taking place in Gaza. He said his heart goes out to civilians who are going without food, water or medical care.

He said Gaza’s borders should be opened to allow aid to come in, with “appropriate monitoring.”

All this talk of a proportionate response and Israel defending itself seems to be off the mark by the numbers. If a man hits you and you beat up his whole family is that proportionate response? Is shooting a man for throwing a rock at your window defending yourself?

The Associated Press reports that as of Wednesday, January 14th, more than 985 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 400 civilians. This is comparison to 13 Israeli’s who have been killed, including 3 civilians. It is estimated that 40% of all the Gaza casualties have been civilians . From 2005 through 2007 there were 86 Israeli’s killed, 8 of which were civilians, meaning less than 10% of all Israeli’s killed during the time were civilians.

Barack Obama was on ABC’s this week and reiterated his statement  “If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing.”

Palestinians are seeing bombs dropped on their houses at a much more frequent rate than Israelis have had rockets shot at them, shouldn’t they have the right to defend themselves too? Way more Palestinian daughters have died because of this conflict than Israelis.

We’ve all heard the statement about how an aye for an eye leaves US all blind. What about an eye for 200 eyes?

Does Israel expect to be greeted as liberators in Gaza. Every family member they kill just adds to the desperation and hatred of Israel that creates the rocket launchers and the suicide bombers that they are trying to fight.

According to Wikipedia, since 2005 not including the recent conflict, there have been 1290 Palestinian casualties vs 86 Israeli casualties. Of those casualties, there were 222 Palestinian civilians killed vs 8 Israeli civilians killed. From 1987 through 2005 their have been 3196 Palestinian casualties including, 620 civilians and 946 Israeli casualties including 112 civilians.

So in these past two weeks, Israel has killed as many Palestinians as they have for the past 4 years.

In the face of the murder, terror and dead children, US politicians are not condemning the violence or the war but defending Israel’s right to defend themselves. David Patterson said “I believe the Israeli people, under constant attack from the Palestinian territories, have a right to protect themselves and I stand with them as they fight to defend the basic rights of humanity.”

Is Hamas not under attack by Israel is well? Given the disproportionate amount of casualties, isn’t it Palestine who is more need to defend their basic rights for humanity.

Mike Bloomberg said there is no measured response to terrorism, essentially saying that Israel has carte blanche to use what ever force it wants, regardless of civilian casualties.

I worked for many years as a teacher and had to break up several fights. If a 100 pound kid kicks 300 pound kid in the shins, and the 300 pound kid begins pummeling the 100 pound kid, I wouldn’t say that the 300 kid had a right to defend himself I would tell them both to stop fighting and try and break it up.

Maybe one of the reasons the US has been slow to criticize Israel is the Iraq war. 100,000 Iraqi civilians (some have estimated it in the millions) have been killed vs 4,000 soldiers.

If this were a boxing match it would’ve been declared a TKO a long time ago. If it were a football game, Israel would’ve put in their second string. Without a referee, the game has already gotten far out of hand.

In war there is rarely a right side and wrong side.  if Hamas was wrong for breaking the ceasefire, that does not mean Israel is right for killing 382 civilians.

Israel is doing very little to improve their relations with both Palestine and their middle eastern neighbors with the current war on Gaza. They are only fueling the hatred for Israel in the arab world.

While I’ve heard several good arguments justifying Israel’s actions. I’ve always been told that number and pictures don’t lie. Given the lopsided score on the casualty count and gruesome pictures of the casualties, it is very clear that Israel is in the wrong along with Hamas.

For more evidence of the brutality in Gaza check out a gallery of Palestinian casualties.

War is a horrible state to live in.  It is not about who started it; it’s about stopping the killing. While people may debate about who is wrong and right between Israel and Hamas, no  one can debate the horror and terror being inflicted on innocent civilians. Check out the images after the jump.

**WARNING: MANY of these images are extremely graphic and not intended for sensitive viewers.**

WATCH Coverage of the War on Gaza here:

The U.S. acknowledged that its forces “may have mistakenly killed and injured” Afghan soldiers in what may have been a case of mistaken identity “on both sides.” The deaths come as Afghan President Hamid Karzai presses international forces to avoid airstrikes in civilian areas.

Arsallah Jamal, the province’s governor, said the Afghan soldiers died at a fixed army checkpoint in a region where American and Afghan troops have been conducting operations for over a week. Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman, confirmed nine soldiers died and three were wounded in the airstrike in the Sayed Kheil area of Khost province in eastern Afghanistan.

“As a Coalition forces convoy was returning from a previous operation, they were involved in multiple engagements,” a U.S. military statement said. “As a result of the engagements, ANA (Afghan army) soldiers were killed and injured.”

Col. Greg Julian, the chief spokesman for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, said American officials would meet with Afghan defense officials to “sort out the details.”

In June 2007, Afghan police mistook U.S. troops on a nighttime mission for Taliban fighters and opened fire on them, prompting U.S. forces to return fire and call in attack aircraft. Seven Afghan police were killed.

In the last month, uniformed Afghan police officers have twice opened fire on U.S. troops, killing two soldiers. The police officers were killed by U.S. soldiers returning fire, but the incidents raised fears that insurgents have infiltrated Afghanistan’s security forces as a cover to launch attacks.

In the country’s southern Uruzgan province, a two-day battle that ended early Wednesday killed 35 Taliban fighters and three Afghan police, said Juma Gul Himat, Uruzgan’s provincial police chief.

Himat said the battle was led by Afghan forces but also involved helicopter gunships. Afghan forces recovered 35 bodies from the battlefield, he said. Some 100 Taliban fighters were involved in the battle.

In other violence, U.S. troops killed seven militants and detained seven others in a series of operations throughout Afghanistan, the military said in a statement. Among the dead was a Taliban leader in Helmand province responsible for attacks on coalition forces and Afghan security checkpoints, the U.S. said.

More than 5,200 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count of figures from Western and Afghan officials.