United States Agency for International Development (USAID). March 17, 2004.

Since the Saddam Hussein regime was overthrown in May, 270 mass graves have been reported. By mid-January, 2004, the number of confirmed sites climbed to fifty-three. Some graves hold a few dozen bodies-their arms lashed together and the bullet holes in the backs of skulls testimony to their execution. Other graves go on for hundreds of meters, densely packed with thousands of bodies.

If these numbers prove accurate, they represent a crime against humanity surpassed only by the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Pol Pot's Cambodian killing fields in the 1970s, and the Nazi Holocaust of World War II. This USAID report, with accompanying map showing the locations of mass graves, reviews the executions from the 1980's to the fall of the regime.  

Thomas R. Pickering, Eric Schwartz, and James R. Schlesinger. Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Independent Task Force on Post-Conflict Iraq. March 9, 2004.

While noting "significant progress" in the post-conflict reconstruction and political transition effort, the Task Force reports that the planned transfer of sovereignty on June 30, combined with U.S. troop reductions from Iraqi cities and uncertainty about long-term U.S. funding, has created doubts about U.S. staying power. To avoid destabilizing the effort and demoralizing Iraqis, the Task Force urges the Bush administration, the Democratic nominee for president, and Congressional leaders to:

* declare that coalition forces will continue to provide essential security in Iraq until the Iraqi security forces can do so on their own;
* emphasize that the transfer of sovereignty does not signal a diminished U.S. commitment to supporting stability, reconstruction and a peaceful political transition;
* affirm that the United States is prepared to sustain a multi-billion dollar commitment to Iraq for at least the next several years; and
* ensure broad involvement of Iraqis, and promote a leading role for the United Nations in the political transition process.