Iraq Body Count
June 9th, 2006
While we pat ourselves on our collective backs, celebrating the awesomeness of US military might in what our leaders are calling a major victory in the war on terrorism, we should take a moment to pay homage to all the others that have died during the illegal war in Iraq. But exactly who, and how many of them, should we mourn?
I was talking a couple of days ago with some friends, and we started discussing US soldiers wounded in Iraq. I wasn’t very surprised to learn that neither of them had an accurate idea on the number of casualties. The DoD is reluctant to release fully accurate data, and the media is happy to fall into line, but there are plenty of non-traditional resources out there to get some ideas. Even though it would appear that our leaders “don’t do body counts”, others are keeping track.
According to some of the data I have found, as of today, the grim numbers look something along the following:
US Deaths Confirmed by the DoD - 2480
US Deaths since “Mission Accomplished” - 2343
US Wounded According to the DoD - 17,869
Iraq Coalition Casualties - 4769
Iraqi Civilians Reported Killed - 38,254 to 42,646
Estimated Civilians Killed - more than 100,000
Women and children accounted for almost 20% of all civilian deaths
Cost of the War - $287,012,509,117 (that’s 287 billion)
Estimate Total Cost of War - over $2 trillion
While the above numbers are alarming on their own, they do not reflect the number of deaths that could have been prevented had the funds spent on the war been directed to health programs or feeding the poor. What type of strides could we have made in the advancement towards a cure for cancer or HIV had we dumped almost $300 billion there? How many children could have been fed with that money? How many schools could have been built? How many immunizations distributed? Factor in the implicit deaths that may have been averted, and the numbers grow considerably.
Even though Bill O’Reilly would have us believe that “everybody who is a loyal American should be celebrating, and not doing this other stuff” I would argue that it is at these times that we need to stand up and remind our leaders that we have not forgotten the others that have fallen. It is at times when we are feeling our most self righteous that we must stand back and put things in perspective. Dropping half a ton of explosives on a handful of bad guys doesn’t justify the carnage that we are unleashing on an undeserving people. The tens of thousands of casualties can’t be washed away, or blown to bits, with the obliteration of Zarqawi. A few dead bad guys will not wipe out the sins of the fathers.
How high does the casualty count need to climb before we decide to pull out? Perhaps that is the wrong metric to judge. Perhaps a better question is how much money do Haliburton and Bechtel need to make before we can stop the carnage? Once the US has a couple of new military bases set up, then can we pull out? Will another notch in the imperialistic belt be enough to satisfy the war lords? How about a Starbucks on every corner?
Bush and friends continue to maintain that we will continue our operations in Iraq. According to our current administration, the end is definitely not in sight. So, how high will the casualty count get? At this rate, the sky is the limit. Maybe 50,000 Americans wounded or killed in combat. Maybe 250,000 or more Iraqis. But hey, we can’t put a price on freedom, right?
And in the midst of our celebrating, let’s not forget the most recent atrocity - the slaughter at Haditha, where two dozen civilians were murdered in cold blood by a Marine unit from Camp Pendleton. Should we cry more for the 24 civilians that met such a brutal demise, or for the poor boys from the Southern California military base? Those poor boys - most of them barely old enough to legally buy alcohol, their lives forever shattered. Their souls lost in the sands of some godless desert. How will they ever be able to come back into society and not lose their minds? How will you greet them when they return? What will you say? Do you have an apology ready?
Or the wretched townspeople of Haditha, which will now live in the history books alongside My Lai, Wounded Knee, and other sites where massacres have been committed upon an innocent population. Who cries for them? Who will mourn the children who were savagely murdered? In one house, little girls - ages 14, 10, 5, 3, and 1 - all died after being shot to pieces. One girl suffered nine bullet wounds, and others were torn apart by exploding grenades. What type of apology can we give to these people? What type of justice do they desrve? Do they not deserve the same happiness and protection that you and I deserve? Are their lives any less precious than ours?
What type of apology are you prepared to give them? Start thinking, because they’ll deserve one. Each day that passes, we will owe more and more apologies. I fear more than we will ever be able to dole out.
References:
Washington Post - Enemy Body Counts Revived
Daniel Bacher - Bush’s Illegal War
Iraq Body Count
Wikipedia - Casualties of the War Since 2003
Iraq Coalition Casualties
Lancet Study (PDF)
Guardian Unlimited - Body counts
The Globalist -The Cost of War in Iraq: A Checklist
Daniel Bacher -Bush’s Illegal War
ImpeachPAC - Who Really Killed the Civilians of Haditha?
Noam Chomsky - After Pinkville
Wikipedia - List of Massacres
June 10th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
[…] I am all for discourse especially when it is followed through with passion, but I must ask the question; don’t we have a duty as a leading nation to ensure the world is a stable place? Friends and families disagreeing with policy is one thing but nation’s whose ideals are at extreme ends of each other is catastrophic! […]
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:53 am
Let’s take a gander here…
1. US Deaths Confirmed by the DoD – 2480 – fewest in US war history.
2. US Deaths since “Mission Accomplished” – 2343 – An accomplished war against Saddam Hussein and his regime, now a new war against terrorists. 2 wars.
3. US Wounded According to the DoD - 17,869 -Service men wounded and mended in record time, they chose this profession so stop speaking for them. It’s not your burden or right to speak for the troops.
4. Iraq Coalition Casualties – 4769 – It’s obvious that they chose the option to go to war along side the US. NO! Bush did not hold a tank cannon against their heads and force them against their will.
5. Iraqi Civilians Reported Killed - 38,254 to 42,646- Mostly due to insurgent forces
6. Estimated Civilians Killed - more than 100,000 Women and children accounted for almost 20% of all civilian deaths- Though this might be true, this is an inflammatory statement. It has come to my conclusion that this statement ‘s purpose is to arouse hostile feelings towards a targeted republican administration to insight public opinion against President Bush and turn opinion polls around in favor of the Democratic party for votes. Isn’t it obvious?
7. Cost of the War - $287,012,509,117 (that’s 287 billion) – This pays for your freedom here in the states so that we and the rest of the freedom nation loving people can live our much privileged lives.
8. Estimate Total Cost of War - over $2 trillion- This pays for the future of our children and the prospect of a safer world for other nation’s families as well.
“”“While the above numbers are alarming on their own, they do not reflect the number of deaths that could have been prevented had the funds spent on the war been directed to health programs or feeding the poor. What type of strides could we have made in the advancement towards a cure for cancer or HIV had we dumped almost $300 billion there? How many children could have been fed with that money? How many schools could have been built? How many immunizations distributed? Factor in the implicit deaths that may have been averted, and the numbers grow considerably.”””
IMO, This statement is written to divert attention away from the actual purpose of our nation going to war. Is it not to assure a future in which we can continue with our advancements toward fighting cancer, HIV, feeding children, having an actual school that our little children can attend without fear of Al-Qaeda shooting our mothers, fathers, and little girls in the back of the head for getting an education?
“”“Factor in the implicit deaths that may have been averted, and the numbers grow considerably.”””
What about the implicit deaths that world trade center victims suffered for the sake of Allah? What about all those who are under the oppressive”Sword of Destruction” due to Al-Qaeda’s murderous regime?
“”“Dropping half a ton of explosives on a handful of bad guys doesn’t justify the carnage that we are unleashing on an undeserving people. The tens of thousands of casualties can’t be washed away, or blown to bits, with the obliteration of Zarqawi. A few dead bad guys will not wipe out the sins of the fathers.””””
Huh, a handful of “Bad Guys”, are you kidding me? You’re also telling me that we are killing all those civilians in Iraq? Are you for real? Can you get me an actual count of civilian deaths due to US servicemen’s weapons fire as opposed to the terrorists?
“”“Perhaps a better question is how much money do Haliburton and Bechtel need to make before we can stop the carnage? Once the US has a couple of new military bases set up, then can we pull out? Will another notch in the imperialistic belt be enough to satisfy the war lords? How about a Starbucks on every corner?”
Come on Greg! That is an in-sinuous statement and has no actual substance. Do you always base your information on theories and fictional conspiracies? Sounds to me like you are parroting this strait from the Bible of Liberalism! *Laughs* I can hear the march of Bush Vader and his Empire right about now!
“”“And in the midst of our celebrating, let’s not forget the most recent atrocity - the slaughter at Haditha, where two dozen civilians were murdered in cold blood by a Marine unit from Camp Pendleton.”””
What happened to innocent till proven guilty? Isn’t that the American way? Hell, you would have our US be troops and government officials be found murderers before there is an actual inquiry. Are you vying for Guantanamo Bay detainees to have US privileges and rights? If so, what about our own service men and nations leaders?
“”“Bush and friends continue to maintain that we will continue our operations in Iraq. According to our current administration, the end is definitely not in sight. So, how high will the casualty count get? At this rate, the sky is the limit. Maybe 50,000 Americans wounded or killed in combat. Maybe 250,000 or more Iraqis. But hey, we can’t put a price on freedom, right? “””
Word to your you and your cronies, STOP BLAMING BUSH! START BLAMING TERRORISTS AND YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO VOTED FOR THIS WAR TO HAPPEN!!! The blood of the martyred children, women and men are on the Liberals and Democrats hands if what you are saying is correct. If so, then there is plenty of blame to throw around.
I truly feel for these innocent casualties of war; though, not all these reports of slaughtered innocents are accurate. I really hope some common sense would enter your brain about these issues and not some politically charged rhetoric talking point discussions that you and you’re party are wasting valuable energy on; drumming up division and dissension to get re-elected to political prominence based upon lies and distorted truths.
Good luck to you…
Roberto,
June 23rd, 2006 at 7:42 am
Roberto:
The primary flaw in your argument is your assumption that I favor the Democratic Party over the Republican Party. Your arguments seem to imply that I am stating my points at the expense of Republicans for the sake of bolstering the Dems. I have as much animosity for the Dems as I do for the Republicans.
The Democratic party is implicitly guilty through their non-action.
The rest of your points, I am not even going to touch. There is no way that I am going to sway your opinion - seems to be too many years of propaganda cluttering your thought process. I would recommend getting some news about the world from parties other than Fox News and CNN.
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Greg,
In case you haven’t noticed, I am giving you an open invitation. I am begging for you to sway my opinion.
I’m all eyes.
Roberto,