At least 52 people were killed in violence around Iraq Monday. Five U.S. servicemembers died in separate attacks in Baghdad, bringing this month’s military death toll to 47. Speaking in Washington, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih likened the violence in Iraq to the Virginia Tech shootings.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih: “Think of it, Virginia Tech every day 10 times over for the past three years. People can talk about civil war in Iraq. People can complain about sectarian violence in Iraq, but there is another way of looking at it. Any other society that has been subjected to this barbaric onslaught day in day out would have been in an all-out civil war. If anything, it is remarkable Iraq is not in an all-out civil war.”

Salih is in Washington to urge Congress to approve more money for the Iraq War. The Senate is set to vote this week on whether to cut off funding by April of next year.