[Vision2020] Iraq: lest we forget
James Reynolds
chapandmaize at hotmail.com
Tue Apr 4 13:28:07 PDT 2006
IRAQ DEATH TOLL IN THIRD YEAR
OF OCCUPATION IS HIGHEST YET
The civilian death toll has risen inexorably for the entire duration of the
US-led military presence in Iraq following the initial invasion. That is the
grim reality uncovered by ongoing tracking of media reports by the Iraq Body
Count project (IBC).
Figures released by IBC today, updated by statistics for the year 2005 from
the main Baghdad morgue, show that the total number of civilians reported
killed has risen year-on-year since May 1st 2003 (the date that President
Bush announced major combat operations have ended):
6,331 from 1st May 2003 to the first anniversary of the invasion, 19th
March 2004 (324 days: Year 1)
11,312 from 20th March 2004 to 19th March 2005 (365 days: Year 2)
12,617 from 20th March 2005 to 1st March 2006 (346 days: Year 3).
In terms of average violent deaths per day this represents:
20 per day in Year 1
31 per day in Year 2 and
36 per day in Year 3.
The IBC figure for Year 3 includes no deaths from March 2006, excludes the
bulk of killings which followed the 22nd February bombing of a major Shiite
Muslim shrine in Samarra, and lacks Baghdad morgue data for January and
February this year. If January and February 2006 are excluded as being
clearly incomplete, then the daily death rate for the remaining part of Year
3 rises to 40 (11,480 deaths over 287 days = 40 per day). However even
before Year 3 has ended, and with incomplete data for its final months, the
number of civilians reported killed is already higher than for all of Year 2
(12,617 vs. 11,312).
Although what has been described as sectarian violence undoubtedly
contributes to a growing proportion of deaths, the last years total
includes 370 known civilian deaths from military action by US-led forces and
2,231 from anti-occupation activity against coalition and Iraqi government
targets. The post-invasion increase in criminal activity remains an
important concern, but the majority of media reports do not allow a clear
identification of the perpetrators or their motives. The unknown agents
who did most of the killing could fall into any of the categories above, as
well as other types of terrorist. Reports also indicate that the past year
has seen an increasing number of extra-judicial executions.
Speaking from London, Iraq Body Count cofounder John Sloboda said, Todays
figures are an indictment of three years of occupation, which continues to
make the lives of ordinary Iraqis worse, not better. Talk of civil war is a
convenient way for the US and Iraqi authorities to mask the real and
continuing core of this conflict, which is between an incompetent and brutal
occupying power on the one hand and a nationalist insurgency fuelled by
grief, anger, and humiliation on the other. This conflict is proof that
violence begets more violence. The initial act that sparked this cycle of
violence is the illegal US-led invasion of March and April 2003 which
resulted in 7,312 civilian deaths and 17,298 injured in a mere 42 days. The
insurgency will remain strong so long as the US military remains in Iraq,
and ordinary Iraqi people will have more death and destruction to look
forward to.
Iraq Body Count cofounder Hamit Dardagan added: In September 2003, after
our first major review of civil insecurity in Iraq informed by data from the
Baghdad morgue, we noted that:
The US may be effective at waging war but the descent of Iraqs capital
city into lawlessness under US occupation shows that it is incompetent at
maintaining public order and providing security for the civilian population.
The US has toppled Saddam and discovered that it won't be discovering any
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So why is it still there? And if the US
military cant ensure the safety of Iraqi civilians and itself poses a
danger to them, what is its role in that country?
The question still stands, and Iraqis are still being killed in increasing
numbers. How many more must die before the architects of the military
solution for Iraq realise that the only sure way to reduce violence is to
stop inflicting it?
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