Thursday, December 07, 2006
Who is doing the killing in Iraq?
Hesham asks "What does it mean to kill rape and burn close to a million people for the sake of some ill-defined ideas and values?" Well, let's attempt to break out of the "shallow confines of the tabloid world" and ask the really important question: Who is doing most of the killing in Iraq?
It always seemed to me from news reports that most of the civilian deaths are not from American military action but from the insurgents. Maybe that is wrong, so let's look at Iraq Body Count. The most recent day of casualty list (11 November) has reports for 63-65 deaths. Let's look at each one:
At least 10 and perhaps 12 dead, killed by "Gunmen believed to be local Sunnis".
Police found 12 unidentified bodies in the northern city of Mosul on Saturday, no word on who might have killed them.
"A civilian was killed ... when a bomb inside a car detonated", so unless the US military is now having to resort to car bombs, this was probably not them.
Two people were killed in a suicide attack on a police station in Zaghinya, near Baquba. Again, I'm fairly certain that the US has not resorted to suicide attacks on civilians.
Police also reported finding at least 25 bodies dumped around the city.
A car bomb followed by a roadside bomb killed three people ...
"The first bomb exploded causing no casualties and when the Americans gathered, a second bomb went off, ripping children to pieces and sending pieces of flesh scattered all over the street..". Again, this doesn't seem like the work of the US.
Gunmen shot dead an Iraqi intelligence officer in south Baghdad. Tahsin Ali Mahmud was ambushed as he was driving through Baya neighbourhood, the source said.
"Eight people died and at least 38 were wounded when two bombs hidden under parked cars exploded among noontime shoppers in downtown Baghdad's Hafidh al-Qadhi square".
So, there you are. Maybe this day was exceptional and most days have huge numbers of civilians killed by the US military, but I doubt it.
It always seemed to me from news reports that most of the civilian deaths are not from American military action but from the insurgents. Maybe that is wrong, so let's look at Iraq Body Count. The most recent day of casualty list (11 November) has reports for 63-65 deaths. Let's look at each one:
At least 10 and perhaps 12 dead, killed by "Gunmen believed to be local Sunnis".
Police found 12 unidentified bodies in the northern city of Mosul on Saturday, no word on who might have killed them.
"A civilian was killed ... when a bomb inside a car detonated", so unless the US military is now having to resort to car bombs, this was probably not them.
Two people were killed in a suicide attack on a police station in Zaghinya, near Baquba. Again, I'm fairly certain that the US has not resorted to suicide attacks on civilians.
Police also reported finding at least 25 bodies dumped around the city.
A car bomb followed by a roadside bomb killed three people ...
"The first bomb exploded causing no casualties and when the Americans gathered, a second bomb went off, ripping children to pieces and sending pieces of flesh scattered all over the street..". Again, this doesn't seem like the work of the US.
Gunmen shot dead an Iraqi intelligence officer in south Baghdad. Tahsin Ali Mahmud was ambushed as he was driving through Baya neighbourhood, the source said.
"Eight people died and at least 38 were wounded when two bombs hidden under parked cars exploded among noontime shoppers in downtown Baghdad's Hafidh al-Qadhi square".
So, there you are. Maybe this day was exceptional and most days have huge numbers of civilians killed by the US military, but I doubt it.
# posted by Brn @ 12/07/2006 11:50:00 PM 
