Iraq Civilians: 50,000 Dead-- But Who's Counting?

[bigtree]

Saturday, July 8, 2006 by Inter-Press Service

by Juliana Lara Resende
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0708-06.htm

UNITED NATIONS - After famously telling reporters that they "don't do body counts," Pentagon officials now say that they have in fact been keeping a record of civilian casualties in Iraq for one year. And while that number remains classified, independent estimates suggest that at least 50,000 people have died in the country since the 2003 invasion.

According to statistics compiled by the Baghdad morgue, the Iraqi Health Ministry and other agencies, as reported recently in the Los Angeles Times, that total is 20,000 higher then the George W. Bush administration had previously estimated.

Last year, Bush asserted that, "30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis."

In terms of population size, this would be equivalent to 570,000 U.S. citizens killed in the same period of time, noted the Jun. 25 LA Times article.

full report: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0708-06.htm

[Crazy Dave]

1. There's a good reason not to count civilian death statistics

You might become one yourself.

"In Iraq, the US does eliminate those who dare to count the dead"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1366278,00.html

It's an older article but I'm sure the problem hasn't gone away. It's probably intensified since then.

[bowens43]

2. Hey!! At least they're free!!

[Nimrod2005]

3. "it is just a number...".

[Monkeyman]

11. Tony Snow Agree's with that

I was never so dam pissed off when he said that.

[whistle]

4. The U.S. pounds, tortures, mutilates and kills Iraqi citizens...

...into total submission, so in that way Iraqis will fully appreciate their freedom.

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/press/pr13.php

war = insanity :wtf:

[NNN0LHI]

5. I sure hope none of them 50,000 dead Iraqis have any family or friends

Pissed off family or friends. Or we could all be in big trouble.

Don

[bigtree]

6. oops!

[BeFree]

7. But it's not a war!

That's what I keep telling myself... It's not a war. It is an occupation. It is nation building. It is a police action.

But to the people in Iraq, it is war. It is a war on them and their children. It is a war against their way of life. We must end that war.

So, I wonder, what do we call a war against this war? For it is in war that we must engage. What do we call this war to end all wars?

[PDJane]

8. 50,000?

Something tells me that's a serious and deliberate undercount.......I suspect it's more like 250,000.......but it's hard to tell when no census has been taken. That's deliberate too, as is the targetting of people who would make the count.

[malaise]

9. Bullspit

it's closer to 200,000.

[RethugAssKicker]

10. So, we leave it up to the MURDERERS to count their innocent

victims???.... What ever the US says is total bullshit!!