Despite official US claims that the Iraq War is “over” massive numbers of civilians continue to be killed, with the latest study showing 3,976 civilians killed in 2010 alone. The number is a slight decline from the 2009 number (4,680) but seems to be leveling off, after significant drops in 2007 and 2008.

Indeed, the study predicted that Iraq is in a “persistent low-level conflict” and that the civilian death toll will remain “at a similar rate for years to come.” With tensions on the rise along sectarian lines in Iraq, even this seems a best-case scenario.

Likewise, this is “low-level” only in comparison to the enormous civilian tolls of previous years, and is actually a somewhat higher civilian death toll than Afghanistan, a war which no one would call “low-level.”

Somehow, Iraq has fallen entirely off the radar, but the most staggering aspect is that a number of officials have been “taking credit” for the security situation, as though nearly 4,000 civilians killed in a year was the goal instead of just a minor improvement over the disastrous 2009.

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