Musafir's Musings

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Insurgents are not the only ones responsible

The spinmeisters do their thing; stand in front of a board with pointers in their hands and rattle off numbers. It is their job and some of them even believe what they say.

We are now almost two and half years into Operation Iraqi Freedom. What a name! I wonder if the people responsible for creating the name feel good about it. The mounting civilian death toll, however, cannot be hidden under the rug, cannot be disputed. cannot be served with frills. No matter what euphemism (cost of war, collateral damage,etc.) is used to describe it, the number speaks out loud and clear---nearing 25,000 according to IBC report quoted by the BBC.

The lies about Iraq's WMD have long been disproved. Now we are in Iraq to liberate the Iraqis and introduce democratic government. But first we had to use "shock and awe" tactics to soften the insurgents. In the process we killed thousands of civilians. The insurgents seem to come from an endless pool.

We claim that most of the civilian deaths are caused by the insurgents. Not so according to a report on BBC's web site:

"Shock and awe invasions using massive air power and overwhelming force caused a far higher concentration of deaths, injuries and child fatalities than even the intense insurgency we are experiencing now," he said.

"This is a fact which must be taken on board if hearts and minds are ever to be won back."

Iraq's catalogue of death By Robert Greenall

Dossier of Civilian Casualties in Iraq 2003-2005, dated July 18, 2005. The UK-based Iraq Body Count (IBC) includes academics and peace activists.