I've uploaded this from Iraq Body Count. I don't trust their numbers completely, and I certainly don't trust their agenda, but lots of people do use their information in various debates. So here's a graph that might be useful in your own debates/discussions.
Reminder: the surge strategy as implemented by our forces started around February, 2007, and wasn't fully effective and deployed until June. The deaths count all sources of violence, be it Sunni or Shi'a, al-Qaeda or gang violence.
If present trends continue civilian deaths due to violence could be ~10,000 for 2008, well under the 22,586–24,159 civilian deaths estimated for the past year.
