I have no idea, but when they tell you something and are unable to back it up there's a reasonable chance it's not true. Still, that doesn't stop all of the Very Serious People from passing on the press release gospel.
U.S. officials say the number of civilian casualties in the Iraqi capital is down 50 percent. But U.S. officials declined to provide specific numbers, and statistics gathered by McClatchy Newspapers don't support the claim.
The number of car bombings in July actually was 5 percent higher than the number recorded last December, according to the McClatchy statistics, and the number of civilians killed in explosions is about the same.
