Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
Since the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003, 1,520 US soldiers, 86 UK soldiers, and 90 soldiers from other countries in the "coalition of the willing" have died (as of March 18, 2005). The wounded in action number more than 11,220 (as of February 26, 2005).
Iraqi Casualties
A study published in The Lancet last November estimated at least "100000 excess deaths" in Iraq since March 20, 2003.1 According to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, "operations by U.S. and multinational forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis -- most of them civilians -- as attacks by insurgents."2 The Lancet study confirms the ministry’s findings: "Violent deaths were widespread . . . and were mainly attributed to coalition forces. Most individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children."3
Cost of War
The cost of the Iraq War (as of March 18, 2005) is $156.8 billion and counting. The sum could have been spent, for instance, to insure 93,905,201 children for one year, provide 7,602,378 students with four-year scholarships at public universities, or hire 2,717,743 additional public school teachers for one year. Congressional approval of $81.4 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will bring their costs to a whopping $300 billion.
Veterans and Military Families Organize to End the Iraq War
Find out about veterans and military families organizing to bring the troops home: e.g., Bring Them Home Now, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans for Peace.
US Public Opinion
"Do you favor keeping a large number of U.S. troops in Iraq until there is a stable government there OR bringing most of our troops home in the next year?"
Falling Military Recruitment and the Shrinking "Coalition of the Willing"
Wait for Stable Govt. Bring Home In Next Year Unsure % % % 2/8-13/05 39 59 1 11/9-14/04 50 47 2 10/14-17/04 47 50 3 9/9-13/04 38 54 7 8/10-15/04 40 54 5 6/8-15/04 39 56 6 4/8-15/04 42 51 8 2/9-16/04 45 51 4 10/03 46 47 7
Source: The Harris Poll. Feb. 8-13, 2005. N=1,012 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3. Pollingreport.com
The Army National Guard fell "30 percent below recruiting goals" at the end of last year.4 Black volunteers for the Army have fallen 41 % (from 22.7% to 13.9%) since 2000.5 Italy will leave Iraq by September, joining 14 other countries that have already done so and two that have made their exit plans.
History
Zoltan Grossman, "From Wounded Knee to Haiti: A Century of U.S. Military Interventions."
Notes
1. Les Roberts, Riyadh Lafta, Richard Garfield, Jamal Khudhairi, and Gilbert Burnham, "Mortality before and after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq: Cluster Sample Survey," The Lancet 364.9448 (November 20, 2004).
2. Nancy A. Youssef, "More Iraqis Killed by U.S. than by Terror," Detroit Free Press 25 Sep. 2004.
3. Roberts, et al.
4. Eric Schmitt, "Guard Reports Serious Drop in Enlistment," New York Times, 17 Dec. 2004.
5. Tom Philpott, "Military Update: Black Army Recruits Down 41 Percent since 2000," The Daily Press 6 Mar. 2005.
2 comments:
お前は馬鹿だ！絶対馬鹿だ！It is disgusting that you use your freedom to protest against the actions necessary to give the Iraqi people their freedom. You are an ignorant, selfish, despicable individual. くたばれ！
It is not possible to "give" freedom to others; nor is it desirable to "receive" it from others. The hand that "gives" always rules over those who "receive," thus negating the ostensible "gift" of freedom. People, including Iraqis, must take freedom and exercise it on their own.
David Brooks, a conservative columnist, made a surprisingly insightful observation on this subject last year: "They [the Iraqis] would do so [revolt against the occupier] for their own self-respect. In taking out Saddam, we robbed the Iraqis of the honor of liberating themselves. . . . To earn their own freedom, the Iraqis need a victory. And since it is too late for the Iraqis to have a victory over Saddam, it is imperative that they have a victory over us. If the future textbooks of a free Iraq get written, the toppling of Saddam will be vaguely mentioned in one clause in one sentence. But the heroic Iraqi resistance against the American occupation will be lavishly described, page after page. For us to succeed in Iraq, we have to lose" ("For Iraqis to Win, the U.S. Must Lose," New York Times, 11 May 2004). Read it at http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/05/honor-and-self-respect.html.
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