Connect: Officials at Baghdad morgue said they received 1,855 bodies in July. The assistant manager of the morgue, Dr Abdul Razzaq Al Obaidi, said that about 90 per cent of those people had died violently.
In June, the corresponding figure was 1,595, a fraction more than half of the 3,149 deaths officially recorded throughout Iraq that month.
As the focus of the world remains on Lebanon, where reportedly about 1,000 people have been killed, while Hizbullah has killed almost 100 Israelis, it's clear that violence in Iraq has intensified. It's increased in Afghanistan too where recent weeks have seen more bloodshed than at any time since almost five years ago.
Violence has also escalated against the Palestinians.
Is there a link between Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine? It's difficult not to think that Iran provides such a link and that, in truth, this is really a proxy war played out in Lebanon between the US and Iran. Such a reading at least explains why, a month after the start of the Lebanon "war", the Americans and British refuse to call for an immediate ceasefire.
They, it seems, want Israel to destroy Hizbullah, Iran's surrogate in Lebanon. In that sense, the regional war in the Middle East has not only already begun but has intensified. US forces used to say: "Baghdad is for wimps; Tehran is for real men".
Iran has, since George Bush dubbed it so in his 2002 State of the Union speech, been part of his absurd "Axis of Evil".
There is an assumption, perhaps even a hope, that daily reports of Lebanese and Israeli casualties, refugees and evacuations will soon end. Sure, it's a dangerous crisis but it will all die down in a week or so, won't it? Already, the newspapers and TV and radio news bulletins are recognising Lebanon fatigue but as Afghanistan and Iraq have shown, violent conflict could last years.
On Wednesday, Israel's security cabinet voted to expand its military offensive in south Lebanon. Israeli TV reported that the bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guards had been found among guerillas killed there.
There was no independent confirmation of this claim and Hizbullah has since denied that Iranians have been fighting alongside it.
But, whether true or not, it's clear that the US, through Israel, wants Iranian involvement.
Since the murderous invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Iran, a country of almost 70 million people, has more than ever assumed the role of regional superpower. In that sense, it represents the greatest threat to US supremacy in the Middle East.
Time was when Saddam Hussein was provided with chemical and biological weapons by Donald Rumsfeld. These, along with "intelligence" (in context, a ridiculous word - call it "information") were intended for use against the Iranians.
Thus the US helped build Iraq's army into the most powerful in the Middle East, with, of course, the glaring exception of Israel.
So, even Iraq was used as a tool in another battle of the proxy war against Iran. Israel, though, is more reliable in these matters and hence its carte blanche to continue destroying Lebanon. The sight of the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, breaking down in tears this week should have made everyone realise the nature of the forces that are destroying his country.
The US and Israel would prefer an Iran ruled by the likes of the last Shah, overthrown in 1979. He was autocratic and pro-West but at least he wasn't an Islamic fundamentalist like the joyless Ayatollah Khomeini who was autocratic and anti-West. A return to a pre-1979 Iran is the US and Israeli goal but it's not going to happen.
Still, the proxy war continues. It can't make any difference to a maimed Lebanese civilian, who has likely had family members killed by US-supplied bombs dropped by Israel, to know that Iran is the real target.
Now that Israel has signalled an escalation of the conflict by deciding to send thousands more troops into Lebanon, hopes for an early end to the slaughter are in tatters.
It appears that the Bush cabal, fronted now by Condoleezza Rice, has decided to injure if not invade Iran. The looming conflict, however, remains a possible war between a US-backed Israel and Iran. There is a danger, such is the level of fear and loathing, that a nuclear weapon or weapons might be used in such a war.
For the present, the attack on Lebanon could "last another 30 days" according to Eli Yishai, Israel's deputy prime minister. Israel has already sacked the army commander in charge of the attack and replaced him with another general who has a more aggressive reputation.
There may well be a version of "ethnic cleansing" up to the Litani river, which is almost 20 miles inside Lebanon.
It's difficult to keep abreast of conflicts in the Middle East. It's easier to watch a soap opera than to try to figure out what causes all the fighting there. But the US is furious with Iran and thus allows Israel slaughter Lebanese civilians amid claims of attacking Iranian-backed Hizbullah. How do Condoleezza Rice and the rest of the cabal sleep at night?