WP: The War's (death) Toll on Iraqi Civilians

The War's Toll on Iraqi Civilians

By Jefferson Morley
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 21, 2004; 9:01 AM


....While American journalists can say, correctly, that definitive statistics on civilian casualties are hard to come by, the true number is certainly a multiple of U.S. casualties, according to Human Rights Watch. In a 2003 study, the New York-based watchdog group said "thousands" of Iraqi civilians had been killed or wounded in the three weeks between the invasion and the fall of Baghdad.

Human Rights Watch cited two other attempts to quantify the dead. The Los Angeles Times did a survey of 27 hospitals in the Baghdad area after the U.S. invasion and found that at least 1,700 civilians died. In June 2003, the Associated Press canvassed 60 of Iraq's 124 hospitals and calculated that at least 3,420 civilians died in the first months of the war. AP described the count as "fragmentary" and said, "the complete toll -- if it is ever tallied -- is sure to be significantly higher."

Since then, other figures have been floated. Commentators for the Jordan Times and the Daily Star in Beirut, Lebanon, have cited an estimate of 30,000 deaths. That is the figure disseminated by the Iraqi Human Rights Organization, an independent group in Baghdad.

A more conservative figure comes from Iraqbodycount.net, a British Web site that compiles media reports on Iraqi civilian deaths. Based on such reporting, the site says there have been a minimum of 12,778 civilian deaths in Iraq and a maximum of 14,820....

***

....no matter which news sources you read or how you play with the numbers, the consensus of international commentators is that the U.S. military may have replaced Saddam Hussein as the biggest threat to Iraqi civilians.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37968-2004Sep21.html

More compassionate conservatism.

Don

I guess we all are not truely free until we are dead so Bu$h is correct when he says he wants to bring freedom to Iraq.

I said this in April of 2003, when our young soldiers fired into a crowd of protestors wanting them (our soldiers) to vacate the school they had occupied. Fallujah, I fear is doomed. I said it then and I say it now, they are going to turn that city to glass, before "they" ever "win".

I know if I was a citizen of Fallujah, if I had held witness to what has been happening in my town, if I had friends and or relatives wiped out with a precision bomb delivered courtesy of those that were here to liberate us, I know where I would be. Anyone else know where you would be? Just picture it on your own home soil.

:kick:

To everyone here that is in pain, denial, frustration, all the pain and the grief that goes with this unwinnable "War on Terrorism".

Salude to all our brave soldiers, (that includes ALL of us).

The profiteers has been corporatism and the elitsts. Kerry went!O

higher according to Bob Woodward's book. There are no words. My heart breaks for all of the people and families affected by this illegal war.

:cry:

Let's say that 15,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the war began.

I remember reading here that 1,000 children were dying each month because of the sanctions. Add another thousand adults who had no access to medicines because of the sanctions.

Then forget all that.

Since the first Gulf War, Saddam's regime is estimated to have killed 500,000 - 1 million people in those 13 years. Using the lower figure, this averages 105 per day.

Therefore, (not including those killed due to sanctions) the war and occupation has saved 40,000 - 90,000 Iraqi lives.

...your pap elsewhere, bushie?

Just because you don't agree with facts doesn't make them go away. When there was "peace", more people died. That's a fact.

Iraqis....not saved Iraqis....or do you also think 1032 dead US Soldiers also means saved American lives too? Guess you think Saddam had to do w/ 9/11 too?

Did you ever hear of the term blow-back before? If you haven't heard it before you will hear of it soon. Wait and see.

Hint: Ronald Reagan used to refer to Osama bin Laden as a "great freedom fighter" when Osama was terrorizing the Soviets for us. How things have changed. Wouldn't you say?

Don

I don't think they are counting all of the civilians who have died of poor medical care, starving, dirty water, bad conditions, on and on and on. War does not save lives.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2381433


It is GD now so, you believe all the lies bush* has told you?

But it is at the very least our obligation to know what our government is doing in our name. Even some conservative voices are saying the civilian numbers are at 30, 000.

There is a wonderful series on Free Speech TV called "Shocking and Awful" I am making DVD copies and giving them to any who will watch.
It is heartbreaking and the mainstream media has blood on their hands for providing us with only a sanitized version of the war.

I am a fairly regular FSTV viewer (as much as time permits) but have somehow missed this series. I would very much like to have a copy to view and share. How may I obtain one. I'd be happy to defray any costs.

just a smidge.

im outraged