US Led Forces Have Killed Approx. 9,250 Iraqi Civilians
CNN.com has one of the answers to one of the many questions I’ve been asking since the U.S. invaded Iraq. I admit, I’ve been wanting to know just how many innocent Iraqis have been killed because of the U.S.’s rash decision to invade their country.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) — U.S.-led forces, insurgents and criminal gangs have killed nearly 25,000 civilians, police and army recruits since the war began in March 2003, according to a survey by Iraq Body Count, a U.S.-British non-government group.
Nearly half the deaths occurred in Baghdad, where a fifth of Iraq’s 25 million people live, according to media reports that Iraq Body Count has surveyed.
The second-highest death toll was in the former insurgent stronghold of Falluja, where one in every 137 of the town’s population has died violently.
Of the total, nearly 37 percent were killed by U.S.-led forces, according to the group.
For those of you who weren’t math majors or minors, 37% of 25,000 is 9,250. That’s a hell of a lot of innocent people, isn’t it? We get all in an uproar when one or two American non-militants are killed in Iraq but who’s crying out for the 9,250 Iraqi citizens? Or do we not care because it’s over there and they aren’t American’s so they don’t really count?
The numbers include civilians, army and police recruits, and serving police. They do not include serving Iraqi military or combatant deaths, for which there are “no reliable accounts … either official or unofficial”.
Here’s the answer to my other question regarding how many total Iraqis have been killed, including combatants. I guess we’ll never know. Interesting since we’re keeping such good count of American soldiers who’ve died or at least we’re pretending too through skewed statistics.
The article also mentions that more than 42,000 civilians have been wonded in those same two years. Wow! Imagine what it must be like knowing that when you wake up each morning, you face great odds just trying to get to work or school or to the grocery. I mean, sure, we run the risk of being killed in a car accident or some other “civilized” accident, but very few of us have to worry about car bombs and snipers and getting caught in the crossfire just going about our daily routine.
Since the media in Iraq is forced to focus on Baghdad for security reasons, it is likely Iraq Body Count’s death toll throughout the country is an under-estimate.
The survey found that almost a third of civilian deaths occurred during the invasion itself, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, when U.S.-led forces carried out their “shock and awe” bombing campaign on Baghdad.
Doesn’t it make you feel better to know that twice as many civilians have been killed since the end of the war as were killed in the war?
U.S.-led forces were found to be chiefly responsible for deaths, and criminals a close second at 36 percent, while insurgents accounted for a surprisingly small 9.5 percent.
According to Iraq Body Count, “unknown agents” were responsible for 11 percent of deaths.
These numbers don’t entirely add up. I’d like to see where the other 6.5% falls.
tags: Iraq, insurgents
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on March 8, 2006 at 8:44 pm
The Naked Truth » Blog Archive » Ever Wonder What The Iraqis Think About How The U.S. Brought Them Freedom said:
[…] Oh, and in contradiction to my U.S.-reported statistics from the other day, Raed claims the number of Iraqis dead is in the tens of thousands… […]