Death and Tolerance
Oct. 18th, 2006 12:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amari_zI'm a late with this, but in case people haven't seen it:
Study estimates that war has killed 655,000 Iraqis. And here.
"Since March 2003, an additional 2.5 percent of Iraq's population have died above what would have occurred without conflict." That's 500 people a day or 15,000 people a month. And these are deaths caused by violence: Gunshots were the largest cause of death, the study said, at 56 percent of all violent deaths, while car bombs accounted for about 13 percent.
Iraq Body Count (see my sidebar) currently has its count at between 43,850-48,693, but that count is maintained by compiling civilian (the new study makes no distinction) deaths that are reported by recognized sources. It's not particularly surprising that such sources are under reporting.
While there is a large margin of error for the study, which was done through an extrapolation after a survey sample of 1,849, that the number is so high should be shocking and alarming and disabuse people who still walk about saying that the Iraqi people should be grateful for the US invasion. (Even the official figures should be shocking--the UN figure for August was about 97 people per day). Of course it won't, though. The administration and the military have already simply dismissed the study as not credible.
Here's a lovely little quote from Bush's press conference:
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, I don't consider it a credible report, neither does General Casey and neither do Iraqi officials. I do know that a lot of innocent people have died and it troubles me and grieves me. And I applaud the Iraqis for their courage in the face of violence. I am, you know, amazed that this is a society which so wants to be free that they’re willing to — you know, that there's a level of violence that they tolerate.
Tolerate? WTF? Yeah, because, really, so many other peaceful choices if you're unfortunate enough to live in Iraq right now. And many Iraqis who can are fleeing Iraq.
Study estimates that war has killed 655,000 Iraqis. And here.
"Since March 2003, an additional 2.5 percent of Iraq's population have died above what would have occurred without conflict." That's 500 people a day or 15,000 people a month. And these are deaths caused by violence: Gunshots were the largest cause of death, the study said, at 56 percent of all violent deaths, while car bombs accounted for about 13 percent.
Iraq Body Count (see my sidebar) currently has its count at between 43,850-48,693, but that count is maintained by compiling civilian (the new study makes no distinction) deaths that are reported by recognized sources. It's not particularly surprising that such sources are under reporting.
While there is a large margin of error for the study, which was done through an extrapolation after a survey sample of 1,849, that the number is so high should be shocking and alarming and disabuse people who still walk about saying that the Iraqi people should be grateful for the US invasion. (Even the official figures should be shocking--the UN figure for August was about 97 people per day). Of course it won't, though. The administration and the military have already simply dismissed the study as not credible.
Here's a lovely little quote from Bush's press conference:
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, I don't consider it a credible report, neither does General Casey and neither do Iraqi officials. I do know that a lot of innocent people have died and it troubles me and grieves me. And I applaud the Iraqis for their courage in the face of violence. I am, you know, amazed that this is a society which so wants to be free that they’re willing to — you know, that there's a level of violence that they tolerate.
Tolerate? WTF? Yeah, because, really, so many other peaceful choices if you're unfortunate enough to live in Iraq right now. And many Iraqis who can are fleeing Iraq.
