Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Collateral Damage - Death Rains from the Sky
The Hapless Iraqi Civilians - Min 27707 Max 31232
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From a report in BBC, January 3, 2006:
Civilian casualties from military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else, do not cause much concern here in the United States. They never have. They receive scant coverage in mainstream media. Politicians remain silent. The innocent civilians are expendable.
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It is doubtful that we are winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis but we are certainly succeeding in influencing them. And how ! The numbers are for dead Iraqi civilians as of December 26th reported by Iraq Bodycount.net Full details of the background and methodology can be found at the IBC website. The Washington Post reported on December 24th "US Airstrikes Take Toll on Civilians" : "These people died silently, complaining to God of a guilt they did not commit," Zahid Mohammed Rawi, a physician, said in the town of Husaybah. Rawi said that roughly one week into Operation Steel Curtain, which began on Nov. 5, medical workers had recorded 97 civilians killed. At least 38 insurgents were also killed in the offensive's early days, Rawi said."
From a report in BBC, January 3, 2006:
- "Fourteen members of one family have been killed in a US air strike that destroyed a house in northern Iraq, an Iraqi official has said.
- The US military has made no immediate comment on the report.
- US forces frequently use air strikes in their battle against Iraqi insurgents, in an effort to minimise US casualties.
"A key element of the drawdown plans, not mentioned in the President’s public statements, is that the departing American troops will be replaced by American airpower. Quick, deadly strikes by U.S. warplanes are seen as a way to improve dramatically the combat capability of even the weakest Iraqi combat units. The danger, military experts have told me, is that, while the number of American casualties would decrease as ground troops are withdrawn, the over-all level of violence and the number of Iraqi fatalities would increase unless there are stringent controls over who bombs what."
Civilian casualties from military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else, do not cause much concern here in the United States. They never have. They receive scant coverage in mainstream media. Politicians remain silent. The innocent civilians are expendable.
