Rising Civilian Toll Is the Iraq War’s Silent, Sinister Pulse by Sabrina Tevernise relies heavily upon Anthony Cordesman’s opinion concerning the rising death toll of Iraqi civilians. He calls Iraq Body Count “the best guesstimate in town,” while the NYT‘s reports he also said “the figures were far from complete.”
The attack on Monday night was the sixth in Wisam Salah’s neighborhood, in Firdos Square near the hotels. On Tuesday evening, Mr. Salah, who is Beshir’s cousin, was on the street near his home clearing rubble and hanging a door back on its hinges. He spoke angrily about foreigners. They make the area more dangerous for Iraqis, he said.
“They want us as armor for their bodies,” he said, his face hard. “They are responsible for this.”
An offer of canned beans, rice and sugar from American troops on Tuesday afternoon felt particularly insulting. “Are they making fun of us?” he said, angrily. “Will this bring back those we lost?”
Civilians do appear to be dying at a faster pace. Mr. Cordesman found in a recent analysis of American figures that more than 60 Iraqis were killed daily this year, up from 40 last year.
Adult males make up 82 percent of all Iraqis killed since the American invasion, according to a study released by Iraq Body Count in July. Children account for about 10 percent of the total and women about 8 percent, according to the study.
IPA offers the following:
KATHY KELLY: http://www.vcnv.org
Co-founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Kelly said today: “From now until Oct. 28, in locations across the U.S. and the U.K., bells will toll in remembrance of the more than 100,000 Iraqis who have died as a consequence of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.In 100 locations listed at http://www.iraqmortality.org, participants in the ‘100,000 Rings’ campaign will ring a bell once a minute, for 1,000 minutes, to express grief and condolence for every life lost as a result of the U.S. bombing, invasion and occupation of Iraq.” Kelly is author of the book “Other Lands Have Dreams” and the recent article “For Whom They Toll.”
MILAN RAI: http://iraqmortality.org/iraq-mortality
Rai is author of the book “War Plan Iraq” and the recent article “Iraq Mortality,” which examines the various major studies on the subject and concludes that “When we take account of the different categories being measured by the United Nations Development Program’s Iraqi Living Conditions Survey, the Lancet study, and the Iraq Body Count reported death toll, and the different time periods that they measure, the three estimates seem to be mutually reinforcing rather than mutually contradictory.”
American Progress on others hardly mentioned:
“More than 15,220 also have been wounded in combat, including more than 7,100 injured too badly to return to duty,” and thousands more “have been hurt in incidents unrelated to combat.” Many of the American service members who have fought in Iraq volunteered for the war “because they burned with conviction in the rightness of the mission. Others were driven by powerful loyalty to units and friends. For some it was simply their job.” Whatever their reason, their sacrifice has been ultimate, and we honor it today. (Watch this moving interactive photo essay of 27 funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.)