U.S. Media Ignores Estimate of 1 Million Iraqi Deaths | By Robert Naiman | Aug 17, 2007, 19:37
Yesterday a radio interviewer in South Africa asked me what had been the response of the "mainstream media in the United States" to Just Foreign Policy's ongoing estimate of the Iraqi death toll from the U.S. invasion and occupation, which on Thursday crossed the one million mark.
Sadly, I had to report that it has been ignored by mainstream media, even the wire services. But this is hardly surprising. A main motivation for constructing the web counter was to keep the "Lancet study" alive. The "Lancet study," you'll recall, was a study published last fall in the British medical journal The Lancet, which estimated that more than 600,000 Iraqis had had been killed as a result of the invasion as of July 2006. The media largely buried the Lancet study when it was published - and have largely ignored the question of the overall death toll from the U.S. invasion - so it's little surprise that they have ignored our attempt to shine a light on this question. ...
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Note that the number we focus on is the Lancet estimate of excess deaths due to violence. Thus, we understate the death toll by ignoring, say, increased deaths due to cholera which could be attributed, at least in part, to the destruction resulting from the U.S. invasion and occupation. ...
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Army Suicides at record level: "Very often a young soldier gets a 'Dear John' or 'Dear Jane' e-mail and then takes his weapon and shoots himself,"
Aug 16, 7:27 PM EDT | War Stress Pushing Army Suicides Higher | By PAULINE JELINEK | Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Repeated and ever-longer war-zone tours are putting increasing pressure on military families, the Army said Thursday, helping push soldier suicides to a record rate.
There were 99 Army suicides last year - nearly half of them soldiers who hadn't reached their 25th birthdays, about a third of them serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general, told a Pentagon press conference that the primary reason for suicide is "failed intimate relationships, failed marriages."
She said that although the military is worried about the stress caused by repeat deployments and tours of duty that have been stretched to 15 months, it has not found a direct relationship between suicides and combat or deployments.
"However, we do know that frequent deployments put a real strain on relationships, especially on marriages. So we believe that part of the increase is related to the increased stress in relationships," she said.
"Very often a young soldier gets a 'Dear John' or 'Dear Jane' e-mail and then takes his weapon and shoots himself," she said. ...
Friday, August 10, 2007
British Criticize U.S. Air Attacks in Afghan Region ... more civilians killed by US and allies than by Taliban ...
British Criticize U.S. Air Attacks in Afghan Region By CARLOTTA GALL Published: August 9, 2007
SANGIN, Afghanistan — A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people.
Other British officers here in Helmand Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, criticized American Special Forces for causing most of the civilian deaths and injuries in their area. They also expressed concerns that the Americans’ extensive use of air power was turning the people against the foreign presence as British forces were trying to solidify recent gains against the Taliban.
A precise tally of civilian deaths is difficult to pin down, but one reliable count puts the number killed in Helmand this year at close to 300 civilians, the vast majority of them caused by foreign and Afghan forces, rather than the Taliban.
...
In just two cases, airstrikes killed 31 nomads west of Kandahar in November last year and another 57 villagers, half of them women and children, in western Afghanistan in April. In both cases, United States Special Forces were responsible for calling in the airstrikes. ...
SANGIN, Afghanistan — A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people.
Other British officers here in Helmand Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, criticized American Special Forces for causing most of the civilian deaths and injuries in their area. They also expressed concerns that the Americans’ extensive use of air power was turning the people against the foreign presence as British forces were trying to solidify recent gains against the Taliban.
A precise tally of civilian deaths is difficult to pin down, but one reliable count puts the number killed in Helmand this year at close to 300 civilians, the vast majority of them caused by foreign and Afghan forces, rather than the Taliban.
...
In just two cases, airstrikes killed 31 nomads west of Kandahar in November last year and another 57 villagers, half of them women and children, in western Afghanistan in April. In both cases, United States Special Forces were responsible for calling in the airstrikes. ...
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
something of a whiff of racism in claiming that the Iraq War is not going too badly because American casualties are lower while yet more Iraqis dies
War Going Horribly—for Iraqis | By Amitabh Pal, August 4, 2007
There’s something of a whiff of racism in claiming that the Iraq War is not going too badly because American casualties have been marginally lower last month.
On purpose or otherwise, this analysis misses the larger purpose of why U.S. troops are meant to be in Iraq: to make life better for the Iraqis.
As the numbers show, U.S. troops are spectacularly failing in this regard. July was a month that saw a whopping 23 percent increase in Iraqi violent deaths over June, with at least 2,024 Iraqis killed. And yet, the same AP story that pointed this out led with the U.S. troop statistic, starkly exposing the priorities of the media.
The decline in U.S. casualties from June to July, according to numbers at icasualties.org, was 20. In the same timeframe, however, the number of Iraqi casualties increased by 384. Is one American life worth more than twenty Iraqi lives?
The same disregard for Iraqis is shown in a New York Times analysis piece by Mark Mazzetti that cites the contrasting figures as a “good news, bad news” scenario. But surely, the spectacular rise in Iraqi killings (topped off on August 1, the day the analysis was written, by a series of bombings in Baghdad that killed scores) more than offsets any decline in U.S. troop casualties. Or is the putatively liberal New York Times also revealing how it weighs American versus non-American lives?
...
There’s something of a whiff of racism in claiming that the Iraq War is not going too badly because American casualties have been marginally lower last month.
On purpose or otherwise, this analysis misses the larger purpose of why U.S. troops are meant to be in Iraq: to make life better for the Iraqis.
As the numbers show, U.S. troops are spectacularly failing in this regard. July was a month that saw a whopping 23 percent increase in Iraqi violent deaths over June, with at least 2,024 Iraqis killed. And yet, the same AP story that pointed this out led with the U.S. troop statistic, starkly exposing the priorities of the media.
The decline in U.S. casualties from June to July, according to numbers at icasualties.org, was 20. In the same timeframe, however, the number of Iraqi casualties increased by 384. Is one American life worth more than twenty Iraqi lives?
The same disregard for Iraqis is shown in a New York Times analysis piece by Mark Mazzetti that cites the contrasting figures as a “good news, bad news” scenario. But surely, the spectacular rise in Iraqi killings (topped off on August 1, the day the analysis was written, by a series of bombings in Baghdad that killed scores) more than offsets any decline in U.S. troop casualties. Or is the putatively liberal New York Times also revealing how it weighs American versus non-American lives?
...
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
deployed for 13 months or more in a three-year period were more likely to have symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ...
Overstretched UK troops face mental problems-study | 03 Aug 2007 08:37:57 GMT | By Paul Majendie
LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Overstretched British troops face escalating mental problems the longer they stay on frontline duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, a study showed on Friday.
Those deployed for 13 months or more in a three-year period were more likely to have symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the King's College London research revealed.
They also suffer greater psychological distress, marital problems and alcoholism once they come home, it said after studying the responses of more than 5,500 combat personnel.
"The principal conclusion was that if you go above a certain amount of deployments in a three-year period you are at greater risk of having mental health problems," said psychiatry professor Matthew Hotopf. ...
LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Overstretched British troops face escalating mental problems the longer they stay on frontline duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, a study showed on Friday.
Those deployed for 13 months or more in a three-year period were more likely to have symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the King's College London research revealed.
They also suffer greater psychological distress, marital problems and alcoholism once they come home, it said after studying the responses of more than 5,500 combat personnel.
"The principal conclusion was that if you go above a certain amount of deployments in a three-year period you are at greater risk of having mental health problems," said psychiatry professor Matthew Hotopf. ...
Friday, August 03, 2007
27 civilians, 37 Taliban killed in NATO strikes
27 civilians, 37 Taliban killed in NATO strikes Agence France Presse Asadabad, July 11:
A local investigation has found 27 civilians were killed in NATO-led air strikes in northeast Afghanistan, a provincial governor said today.
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“Four volunteers, for polio vaccination campaign were killed in the bombing. The campaign has been postponed in the area,” an official with the United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) told AFP.They were volunteers, the official said but asked not to be named.
...
“We investigated the incident and found out that 27 civilians and 37 Taliban were killed,” the governor told AFP.
A local investigation has found 27 civilians were killed in NATO-led air strikes in northeast Afghanistan, a provincial governor said today.
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“Four volunteers, for polio vaccination campaign were killed in the bombing. The campaign has been postponed in the area,” an official with the United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) told AFP.They were volunteers, the official said but asked not to be named.
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“We investigated the incident and found out that 27 civilians and 37 Taliban were killed,” the governor told AFP.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
I can count them [foreign fighters] as a total I have engaged, dead or alive, in the 10 months
The United States Finds Few Non-Iraqis Among Insurgents | By Anna Mulrine | Posted 7/24/07
As President Bush continues to stress al Qaeda as the chief threat to Iraq's stability—a reprised effort to establish a link between al Qaeda in Iraq and the 9/11 attackers—U.S. military forces on the ground in Iraq are fighting a complex war in regions with vast networks of overlapping loyalties—and few foreign fighters. Most members of al Qaeda in Iraq, say commanders on the ground, are local Iraqi outcasts.
"I can count them [foreign fighters] as a total I have engaged, dead or alive, in the 10 months I've been here on one hand," says Col. David Sutherland, the U.S. commander of coalition forces in the hotly contested area of Diyala province, an insurgent stronghold region some 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. There, Sutherland says, those involved in al Qaeda are largely dispossessed locals, not jihadists who have come from elsewhere. "The recruiting program is [that] al Qaeda may send five or eight individuals into a village. They recruit from those who have no power base, no place in society," including, he adds, former male prostitutes and the mentally ill.
...
As President Bush continues to stress al Qaeda as the chief threat to Iraq's stability—a reprised effort to establish a link between al Qaeda in Iraq and the 9/11 attackers—U.S. military forces on the ground in Iraq are fighting a complex war in regions with vast networks of overlapping loyalties—and few foreign fighters. Most members of al Qaeda in Iraq, say commanders on the ground, are local Iraqi outcasts.
"I can count them [foreign fighters] as a total I have engaged, dead or alive, in the 10 months I've been here on one hand," says Col. David Sutherland, the U.S. commander of coalition forces in the hotly contested area of Diyala province, an insurgent stronghold region some 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. There, Sutherland says, those involved in al Qaeda are largely dispossessed locals, not jihadists who have come from elsewhere. "The recruiting program is [that] al Qaeda may send five or eight individuals into a village. They recruit from those who have no power base, no place in society," including, he adds, former male prostitutes and the mentally ill.
...
"Civilians began to flee and 27 or 28 of them were killed while fleeing NATO bombing ...
Dozens of Afghan civilians die in air raids: residents | Fri Jul 27, 6:32 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Dozens of civilians, including women and children, have been killed in two foreign air strikes in southern Afghanistan, residents and a local member of parliament said on Friday.
One of the raids by NATO hit houses in the Girishk district of Helmand province on Thursday evening, killing up to 50 civilians, a group of some 20 residents reported to journalists in Kandahar, the main city in the south.
Wali Jan Sabri, a parliamentarian from Helmand, said he had credible information that between 50 to 60 civilians had been killed in a battle between the Taliban and NATO forces in Girishk.
He said most of the victims were killed in air strikes.
"Yes, there was a battle ... and most of those killed were from NATO bombardment," he told Reuters.
The district chief of Girishk, Manaf Khan, said more than 20 civilians were killed in NATO bombing when they were trying to flee the battle.
"The fighting was fierce between Taliban and NATO," he told Reuters. "Civilians began to flee and 27 or 28 of them were killed while fleeing NATO bombing. I do not have information about the wounded," he said. ...
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Dozens of civilians, including women and children, have been killed in two foreign air strikes in southern Afghanistan, residents and a local member of parliament said on Friday.
One of the raids by NATO hit houses in the Girishk district of Helmand province on Thursday evening, killing up to 50 civilians, a group of some 20 residents reported to journalists in Kandahar, the main city in the south.
Wali Jan Sabri, a parliamentarian from Helmand, said he had credible information that between 50 to 60 civilians had been killed in a battle between the Taliban and NATO forces in Girishk.
He said most of the victims were killed in air strikes.
"Yes, there was a battle ... and most of those killed were from NATO bombardment," he told Reuters.
The district chief of Girishk, Manaf Khan, said more than 20 civilians were killed in NATO bombing when they were trying to flee the battle.
"The fighting was fierce between Taliban and NATO," he told Reuters. "Civilians began to flee and 27 or 28 of them were killed while fleeing NATO bombing. I do not have information about the wounded," he said. ...
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Afganistan: More civilians have been killed this year as a result of foreign military action than have been killed by insurgents
Saturday, June 23, 2007 by BBC News | Karzai Angry Over West’s Tactics | by BBC staff
Nato and US-led troops are failing to co-ordinate with their Afghan allies and thereby causing civilian deaths, President Hamid Karzai has said.
He criticised his Western allies’ “extreme” use of force and said they should act as his government asked.
“Innocent people are becoming victims of reckless operations” because the troops had ignored Afghan advice for years, Mr Karzai told reporters.
He was speaking after a week in which up to 90 Afghan civilians were killed.
“You don’t fight a terrorist by firing a field gun 37 kilometres (24 miles) away into a target. That’s definitely, surely bound to cause civilian casualties,” he said.
More civilians have been killed this year as a result of foreign military action than have been killed by insurgents, correspondents say. ...
Nato and US-led troops are failing to co-ordinate with their Afghan allies and thereby causing civilian deaths, President Hamid Karzai has said.
He criticised his Western allies’ “extreme” use of force and said they should act as his government asked.
“Innocent people are becoming victims of reckless operations” because the troops had ignored Afghan advice for years, Mr Karzai told reporters.
He was speaking after a week in which up to 90 Afghan civilians were killed.
“You don’t fight a terrorist by firing a field gun 37 kilometres (24 miles) away into a target. That’s definitely, surely bound to cause civilian casualties,” he said.
More civilians have been killed this year as a result of foreign military action than have been killed by insurgents, correspondents say. ...
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The attack climaxed the deadliest three-month period for the Americans since the war began.
Iraq Ambush Caps Bloodiest Months for US Email this StoryJun 29, 11:07 PM (ET) By ROBERT H. REID
BAGHDAD (AP) - A huge bomb explosion followed by a hail of gunfire and grenades killed five U.S. soldiers, the military said Friday. The attack climaxed the deadliest three-month period for the Americans since the war began.
Seven soldiers were wounded in the attack Thursday in the Rasheed district, a mixed Sunni-Shiite area of southern Baghdad where U.S.-led forces recently stepped up pressure on extremists. The commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad suggested the ambush could be part of an escalating backlash by Sunni insurgents.
Those deaths brought to 99 the number of U.S. troops killed this month, according to an Associated Press count. The toll for the past three months - 329 - made it the deadliest quarter for U.S. troops in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. That surpasses the 316 soldiers killed during November 2004 to January 2005. ...
BAGHDAD (AP) - A huge bomb explosion followed by a hail of gunfire and grenades killed five U.S. soldiers, the military said Friday. The attack climaxed the deadliest three-month period for the Americans since the war began.
Seven soldiers were wounded in the attack Thursday in the Rasheed district, a mixed Sunni-Shiite area of southern Baghdad where U.S.-led forces recently stepped up pressure on extremists. The commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad suggested the ambush could be part of an escalating backlash by Sunni insurgents.
Those deaths brought to 99 the number of U.S. troops killed this month, according to an Associated Press count. The toll for the past three months - 329 - made it the deadliest quarter for U.S. troops in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. That surpasses the 316 soldiers killed during November 2004 to January 2005. ...
Monday, June 25, 2007
U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces fighting insurgents in Afghanistan ,, killed more civilians than Taliban [!]
Afghan civilians reportedly killed more by U.S., NATO than insurgents |
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces fighting insurgents in Afghanistan have killed at least 203 civilians so far this year — surpassing the 178 civilians killed in militant attacks, according to an Associated Press tally.
Insurgency attacks and military operations have surged in recent weeks, and in the past 10 days, more than 90 civilians have been killed by airstrikes and artillery fire targeting Taliban insurgents, said President Hamid Karzai.
Monday, June 18, 2007
US helicopters struck a bus carrying civilians heading to Abi Sayda town in Muqdadiya ...
US Helicopters Kill 6 Citizens in Baquba | Saturday, 16 June 2007
Six citizens including women and children were killed when US helicopters struck the bus, carrying them in eastern Baquba Saturday morning.
A source in Muqdadiya police said that the US helicopters struck a bus carrying civilians heading to Abi Sayda town in Muqdadiya .
AMSI Net
Six citizens including women and children were killed when US helicopters struck the bus, carrying them in eastern Baquba Saturday morning.
A source in Muqdadiya police said that the US helicopters struck a bus carrying civilians heading to Abi Sayda town in Muqdadiya .
AMSI Net
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Iraq: 40 to 60 people disappeared each day throughout the country for much of last year
Sun, May. 13, 2007 | IRAQ | Disappeared without a trace: more than 10,000 Iraqis | By Shashank Bengali | McClatchy Newspapers
...
Over the past four years, as sectarian kidnappings and killings have gripped Iraq and U.S. forces have arrested untold numbers in an effort to pacify the country, tens of thousands of Iraqis have vanished, often in circumstances as baffling as that of Kereem's husband, a Shiite Muslim father of three.
There's no accurate count of the missing since the war began. Iraqi human rights groups put the figure at 15,000 or more, while government officials say 40 to 60 people disappeared each day throughout the country for much of last year, a rate equal to at least 14,600 in one year.
What happened to them is a frustrating mystery that compounds Iraq's overwhelming sense of chaos and anarchy. Are they dead? Were they kidnapped or killed in some mass bombing? Is the Iraqi government or some militia group holding them? Were they taken prisoner by the United States, which is holding 19,000 Iraqis at its two main detention centers, at Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca? ...
...
Over the past four years, as sectarian kidnappings and killings have gripped Iraq and U.S. forces have arrested untold numbers in an effort to pacify the country, tens of thousands of Iraqis have vanished, often in circumstances as baffling as that of Kereem's husband, a Shiite Muslim father of three.
There's no accurate count of the missing since the war began. Iraqi human rights groups put the figure at 15,000 or more, while government officials say 40 to 60 people disappeared each day throughout the country for much of last year, a rate equal to at least 14,600 in one year.
What happened to them is a frustrating mystery that compounds Iraq's overwhelming sense of chaos and anarchy. Are they dead? Were they kidnapped or killed in some mass bombing? Is the Iraqi government or some militia group holding them? Were they taken prisoner by the United States, which is holding 19,000 Iraqis at its two main detention centers, at Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca? ...
Monday, May 14, 2007
Marine says urinated on dead Iraqi at Haditha
Marine says urinated on dead Iraqi at Haditha | By Marty Graham
05/10/07 "Reuters" -- - CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., May 9 (Reuters) - Angered that a beloved member of his squad had been killed in an explosion, a U.S. Marine urinated on one of the 24 dead Iraqi civilians killed by his unit in Haditha, the Marine testified on Wednesday.
Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, who has immunity from prosecution after murder charges against him were dismissed, also said he watched his squad leader shoot down five Iraqi civilians who were trying to surrender.
In dramatic testimony in a pretrial hearing for one of the seven Marines charged in the Nov. 2005 Haditha killings and alleged cover-up, Dela Cruz described his bitterness after a roadside bomb ripped Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, known as T.J., into two bloody pieces.
"I know it was a bad thing what I've done, but I done it because I was angry T.J. was dead and I pissed on one Iraqi's head," said an unemotional Dela Cruz in a military courtroom in Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, California.
Dela Cruz also said he watched squad leader Sgt. Frank Wuterich shoot five men whose hands were tied up near a car. Dela Cruz said he also shot the five men as they laid on the ground.
Wuterich "walked to me and told me that if anybody asked, they were running away and the Iraqi Army shot them," Dela Cruz testified.
Three Marines have been charged with murder, and four officers have been charged with dereliction of duty and obstructing the investigation. ...
05/10/07 "Reuters" -- - CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., May 9 (Reuters) - Angered that a beloved member of his squad had been killed in an explosion, a U.S. Marine urinated on one of the 24 dead Iraqi civilians killed by his unit in Haditha, the Marine testified on Wednesday.
Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, who has immunity from prosecution after murder charges against him were dismissed, also said he watched his squad leader shoot down five Iraqi civilians who were trying to surrender.
In dramatic testimony in a pretrial hearing for one of the seven Marines charged in the Nov. 2005 Haditha killings and alleged cover-up, Dela Cruz described his bitterness after a roadside bomb ripped Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, known as T.J., into two bloody pieces.
"I know it was a bad thing what I've done, but I done it because I was angry T.J. was dead and I pissed on one Iraqi's head," said an unemotional Dela Cruz in a military courtroom in Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, California.
Dela Cruz also said he watched squad leader Sgt. Frank Wuterich shoot five men whose hands were tied up near a car. Dela Cruz said he also shot the five men as they laid on the ground.
Wuterich "walked to me and told me that if anybody asked, they were running away and the Iraqi Army shot them," Dela Cruz testified.
Three Marines have been charged with murder, and four officers have been charged with dereliction of duty and obstructing the investigation. ...
Sunday, May 13, 2007
234 bodies - men murdered by death squads - dumped around the capital ... up from 137 in April
'More troops' call as Iraq murders soar | 234 bodies dumped in Baghdad in only 11 days | Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor | Sunday May 13, 2007 | The Observer
The US military surge in Iraq, designed to turn around the course of the war, appears to be failing as senior US officers admit they need yet more troops and new figures show a sharp increase in the victims of death squads in Baghdad.
In the first 11 days of this month, there have already been 234 bodies - men murdered by death squads - dumped around the capital, a dramatic rise from the 137 found in the same period of April. Improving security in Baghdad and reducing death-squad activity was described as one of the key aims of the US surge of 25,000 additional troops, the final units of whom are due to arrive next month. ...
The US military surge in Iraq, designed to turn around the course of the war, appears to be failing as senior US officers admit they need yet more troops and new figures show a sharp increase in the victims of death squads in Baghdad.
In the first 11 days of this month, there have already been 234 bodies - men murdered by death squads - dumped around the capital, a dramatic rise from the 137 found in the same period of April. Improving security in Baghdad and reducing death-squad activity was described as one of the key aims of the US surge of 25,000 additional troops, the final units of whom are due to arrive next month. ...
Thursday, May 10, 2007
arines Killed 19 Civilians in March ... Afghan Families Get a U.S. Apology ... and $2,000
69 Afghans' Families Get a U.S. Apology | Marines Killed 19 Civilians in March | By Josh White | Washington Post Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 9, 2007; Page A12
A U.S. Army brigade commander in Afghanistan yesterday told the families of 69 civilians who were killed or wounded by members of an elite Marine Special Forces unit in March that he is "deeply, deeply ashamed" about the incident, describing the series of shootings along a civilian thoroughfare as a "terrible, terrible mistake."
Col. John Nicholson said he apologized to a group of Afghan people in the eastern Nangahar province on behalf of the U.S. government and delivered solatia payments of approximately $2,000 to the families of 19 innocent civilians who died as a result of the March 4 attacks. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon via a video feed from Afghanistan yesterday, Nicholson said the payments were "essentially a symbol of our sympathy to them" and "a way of expressing our genuine condolences over the incident occurring." ...
A U.S. Army brigade commander in Afghanistan yesterday told the families of 69 civilians who were killed or wounded by members of an elite Marine Special Forces unit in March that he is "deeply, deeply ashamed" about the incident, describing the series of shootings along a civilian thoroughfare as a "terrible, terrible mistake."
Col. John Nicholson said he apologized to a group of Afghan people in the eastern Nangahar province on behalf of the U.S. government and delivered solatia payments of approximately $2,000 to the families of 19 innocent civilians who died as a result of the March 4 attacks. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon via a video feed from Afghanistan yesterday, Nicholson said the payments were "essentially a symbol of our sympathy to them" and "a way of expressing our genuine condolences over the incident occurring." ...
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Probes find 50 Afghan civilians killed in US-led action
Thursday May 3, 12:25 AM | Probes find 50 Afghan civilians killed in US-led action
Investigations into a US-led offensive in western Afghanistan at the weekend found around 50 civilians were killed, officials said Wednesday, as President Hamid Karzai summoned the top US general over the casualties.
The US-led coalition has said it is not aware of any civilian deaths following the offensive, which involved intense bombing and ground fighting in the western province of Herat on Friday and Sunday.
The coalition, which invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 and helped to topple the Taliban government, said 136 Taliban fighters were killed.
But hundreds of demonstrators torched government offices in Herat's Shindand district Monday, insisting civilians were among the dead.
A United Nations investigation had so far found that 49 civilians lost their lives in the operation in the Zerkoh Valley, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Herat city, spokesman Adrian Edwards said.
Police inquiries showed 51 civilians were dead, the police spokesman for western Afghanistan, Akramudin Yawar, told AFP. This included "18 women and a number children," he said. ...
Investigations into a US-led offensive in western Afghanistan at the weekend found around 50 civilians were killed, officials said Wednesday, as President Hamid Karzai summoned the top US general over the casualties.
The US-led coalition has said it is not aware of any civilian deaths following the offensive, which involved intense bombing and ground fighting in the western province of Herat on Friday and Sunday.
The coalition, which invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 and helped to topple the Taliban government, said 136 Taliban fighters were killed.
But hundreds of demonstrators torched government offices in Herat's Shindand district Monday, insisting civilians were among the dead.
A United Nations investigation had so far found that 49 civilians lost their lives in the operation in the Zerkoh Valley, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Herat city, spokesman Adrian Edwards said.
Police inquiries showed 51 civilians were dead, the police spokesman for western Afghanistan, Akramudin Yawar, told AFP. This included "18 women and a number children," he said. ...
Friday, April 27, 2007
U.S. officials exclude car bombs in touting drop in Iraq violence
Wed, Apr. 25, 2007 | U.S. officials exclude car bombs in touting drop in Iraq violence By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials who say there has been a dramatic drop in sectarian violence in Iraq since President Bush began sending more American troops into Baghdad aren't counting one of the main killers of Iraqi civilians.
Car bombs and other explosive devices have killed thousands of Iraqis in the past three years, but the administration doesn't include them in the casualty counts it has been citing as evidence that the surge of additional U.S. forces is beginning to defuse tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. ...
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials who say there has been a dramatic drop in sectarian violence in Iraq since President Bush began sending more American troops into Baghdad aren't counting one of the main killers of Iraqi civilians.
Car bombs and other explosive devices have killed thousands of Iraqis in the past three years, but the administration doesn't include them in the casualty counts it has been citing as evidence that the surge of additional U.S. forces is beginning to defuse tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. ...
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Saturday: 164 Iraqis Killed, 345 Injured, 26 Kidnapped
April 14, 2007 | Saturday: 164 Iraqis Killed, 345 Injured, 26 Kidnapped | Updated at 12:07 p.m. EDT, April 15, 2007
An extremely violent day in Iraq left at least 164 Iraqis dead and 345 injured, with numbers sure to rise in the coming hours. A bombing at a bus station in Karbala and another on a bridge in Baghdad had the heaviest tolls; however, numerous attacks occurred all over the country. At least 26 Iraqis were kidnapped in separate events. No foreign casualties were reported. ...
An extremely violent day in Iraq left at least 164 Iraqis dead and 345 injured, with numbers sure to rise in the coming hours. A bombing at a bus station in Karbala and another on a bridge in Baghdad had the heaviest tolls; however, numerous attacks occurred all over the country. At least 26 Iraqis were kidnapped in separate events. No foreign casualties were reported. ...
Marine Corps ignored "obvious" signs of "serious misconduct" .... no interest at any level in investigating allegations of a massacre.
Report On Haditha Condemns Marines | Signs of Misconduct Were Ignored, U.S. General Says | By Josh White | Washington Post Staff Writer | Saturday, April 21, 2007; Page A01
The Marine Corps chain of command in Iraq ignored "obvious" signs of "serious misconduct" in the 2005 slayings of two dozen civilians in Haditha, and commanders fostered a climate that devalued the life of innocent Iraqis to the point that their deaths were considered an insignificant part of the war, according to an Army general's investigation.
Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell's 104-page report on Haditha is scathing in its criticism of the Marines' actions, from the enlisted men who were involved in the shootings on Nov. 19, 2005, to the two-star general who commanded the 2nd Marine Division in Iraq at the time. Bargewell's previously undisclosed report, obtained by The Washington Post, found that officers may have willfully ignored reports of the civilian deaths to protect themselves and their units from blame. Though Bargewell found no specific coverup, he concluded that there also was no interest at any level in investigating allegations of a massacre.
"All levels of command tended to view civilian casualties, even in significant numbers, as routine and as the natural and intended result of insurgent tactics," Bargewell wrote. He condemned that approach because it could desensitize Marines to the welfare of noncombatants. "Statements made by the chain of command during interviews for this investigation, taken as a whole, suggest that Iraqi civilian lives are not as important as U.S. lives, their deaths are just the cost of doing business, and that the Marines need to get 'the job done' no matter what it takes."
The Marine Corps chain of command in Iraq ignored "obvious" signs of "serious misconduct" in the 2005 slayings of two dozen civilians in Haditha, and commanders fostered a climate that devalued the life of innocent Iraqis to the point that their deaths were considered an insignificant part of the war, according to an Army general's investigation.
Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell's 104-page report on Haditha is scathing in its criticism of the Marines' actions, from the enlisted men who were involved in the shootings on Nov. 19, 2005, to the two-star general who commanded the 2nd Marine Division in Iraq at the time. Bargewell's previously undisclosed report, obtained by The Washington Post, found that officers may have willfully ignored reports of the civilian deaths to protect themselves and their units from blame. Though Bargewell found no specific coverup, he concluded that there also was no interest at any level in investigating allegations of a massacre.
"All levels of command tended to view civilian casualties, even in significant numbers, as routine and as the natural and intended result of insurgent tactics," Bargewell wrote. He condemned that approach because it could desensitize Marines to the welfare of noncombatants. "Statements made by the chain of command during interviews for this investigation, taken as a whole, suggest that Iraqi civilian lives are not as important as U.S. lives, their deaths are just the cost of doing business, and that the Marines need to get 'the job done' no matter what it takes."
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Iraq Has Two Virginia Techs Every Day
Iraq Has Two Virginia Techs Every Day | By Juan Cole
04/17/07 "ICH" -- -- I keep hearing from US politicians and the US mass media that the "situation is improving" in Iraq. The profound sorrow and alarm produced in the American public by the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech should give us a baseline for what the Iraqis are actually living through. They have two Virginia Tech-style attacks every single day. Virginia Tech will be gone from the headlines and the air waves by next week this time in the US, though the families of the victims will grieve for a lifetime. But next Tuesday I will come out here and report to you that 64 Iraqis have been killed in political violence. And those will mainly be the ones killed by bombs and mortars. They are only 13% of the total; most Iraqis killed violently, perhaps 500 a day throughout the country if you count criminal and tribal violence, are just shot down. Shot down, like the college students and professors at Blacksburg. We Americans can so easily, with a shudder, imagine the college student trying to barricade himself behind a door against the armed madman without. But can we put ourselves in the place of Iraqi students? ...
04/17/07 "ICH" -- -- I keep hearing from US politicians and the US mass media that the "situation is improving" in Iraq. The profound sorrow and alarm produced in the American public by the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech should give us a baseline for what the Iraqis are actually living through. They have two Virginia Tech-style attacks every single day. Virginia Tech will be gone from the headlines and the air waves by next week this time in the US, though the families of the victims will grieve for a lifetime. But next Tuesday I will come out here and report to you that 64 Iraqis have been killed in political violence. And those will mainly be the ones killed by bombs and mortars. They are only 13% of the total; most Iraqis killed violently, perhaps 500 a day throughout the country if you count criminal and tribal violence, are just shot down. Shot down, like the college students and professors at Blacksburg. We Americans can so easily, with a shudder, imagine the college student trying to barricade himself behind a door against the armed madman without. But can we put ourselves in the place of Iraqi students? ...
About 70% of primary school students in a Baghdad neighborhood suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress such as bed-wetting or stuttering ...
Trauma severe for Iraqi children | By James Palmer, USA TODAY
BAGHDAD — About 70% of primary school students in a Baghdad neighborhood suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress such as bed-wetting or stuttering, according to a survey by the Iraqi Ministry of Health.
The survey of about 2,500 youngsters is the most comprehensive look at how the war is affecting Iraqi children, said Iraq's national mental health adviser and author of the study, Mohammed Al-Aboudi.
RELATED STORY: Iraqis fear war's long-term cost to kids
"The fighting is happening in the streets in front of our houses and schools," al-Aboudi said. "This is very difficult for the children to adapt to."
The study is to be released next month. Al-Aboudi discussed the findings with USA TODAY. ...
BAGHDAD — About 70% of primary school students in a Baghdad neighborhood suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress such as bed-wetting or stuttering, according to a survey by the Iraqi Ministry of Health.
The survey of about 2,500 youngsters is the most comprehensive look at how the war is affecting Iraqi children, said Iraq's national mental health adviser and author of the study, Mohammed Al-Aboudi.
RELATED STORY: Iraqis fear war's long-term cost to kids
"The fighting is happening in the streets in front of our houses and schools," al-Aboudi said. "This is very difficult for the children to adapt to."
The study is to be released next month. Al-Aboudi discussed the findings with USA TODAY. ...
Monday, April 16, 2007
650,000 Civilians dead, 2 Million displaced inside Iraq, 2 Million refugees
The Growing Toll Of Iraqi Civilian Deaths | By Dr. César Chelala
04/14/07 "ICH" -- - "New York' -- -- "The suffering that Iraqi men, women and children are enduring today is unbearable and unacceptable," the director of operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, stated Wednesday on releasing a ICRC report on the situation in Iraq after four years of the US-led war. Entitled “Civilians Without Protection - The Ever-Worsening Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq,” Mr. Kraehenbuehl added that the humanitarian situation is "affecting in one way or another, directly or indirectly, all Iraqis today."
Studies of this nature have been systematically rejected by the Bush and Blair administrations. When, in October 2006, a team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimated that 655,000 more people had died in Iraq since the beginning of the war than would have died if the invasion had not taken place, the British foreign secretary, Margaret Becket, stated that the figures, published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, were inaccurate. President Bush stated that the Lancet study was not a credible report.
In contrast, however, scientists at the UK's Department for International Development concluded that the study's methods were "tried and tested," and that the authors' approach, if anything, underestimated civilian mortality. That conclusion was supported by President Bush's own Iraq Study Group in indicating that violence in Iraq is markedly under-reported.
The new ICRC report lends added credibility to The Lancet report. Civilians, it says, many of them children, bear the brunt of relentless violence, while inadequate security conditions are disrupting the lives of millions of Iraqis. Food shortages have contributed to the rise in malnutrition; inadequate water, sewage and electricity infrastructure contribute to a decline in public health. Fuel shortages affecting power stations further aggravate the worsening crisis. Hospitals and primary healthcare centers lack supplies and are forced to rely on unreliable back-up generators,
It is estimated that some two million Iraqis are now displaced persons within their own country, while two more millions have are now refugees abroad. The Iraqi Red Crescent estimates that since February 2006, more than 100,000 families have been displaced. High among those fleeing the country are medical professionals and nurses; according to estimates published by the Iraqi Ministry of Health more than half of Iraq's doctors have left. With fewer personnel, the additional influx of civilian casualties in the hospitals places the system under inconceivable strain.
Despite all evidence, some political leaders continue to insist that the situation is improving, as though the brutal TV images of the war did not exist, as if it were a fantasy invented by evil spirits. The chasm between the people's view of reality and that of their leaders has rarely been greater. ...
04/14/07 "ICH" -- - "New York' -- -- "The suffering that Iraqi men, women and children are enduring today is unbearable and unacceptable," the director of operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, stated Wednesday on releasing a ICRC report on the situation in Iraq after four years of the US-led war. Entitled “Civilians Without Protection - The Ever-Worsening Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq,” Mr. Kraehenbuehl added that the humanitarian situation is "affecting in one way or another, directly or indirectly, all Iraqis today."
Studies of this nature have been systematically rejected by the Bush and Blair administrations. When, in October 2006, a team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimated that 655,000 more people had died in Iraq since the beginning of the war than would have died if the invasion had not taken place, the British foreign secretary, Margaret Becket, stated that the figures, published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, were inaccurate. President Bush stated that the Lancet study was not a credible report.
In contrast, however, scientists at the UK's Department for International Development concluded that the study's methods were "tried and tested," and that the authors' approach, if anything, underestimated civilian mortality. That conclusion was supported by President Bush's own Iraq Study Group in indicating that violence in Iraq is markedly under-reported.
The new ICRC report lends added credibility to The Lancet report. Civilians, it says, many of them children, bear the brunt of relentless violence, while inadequate security conditions are disrupting the lives of millions of Iraqis. Food shortages have contributed to the rise in malnutrition; inadequate water, sewage and electricity infrastructure contribute to a decline in public health. Fuel shortages affecting power stations further aggravate the worsening crisis. Hospitals and primary healthcare centers lack supplies and are forced to rely on unreliable back-up generators,
It is estimated that some two million Iraqis are now displaced persons within their own country, while two more millions have are now refugees abroad. The Iraqi Red Crescent estimates that since February 2006, more than 100,000 families have been displaced. High among those fleeing the country are medical professionals and nurses; according to estimates published by the Iraqi Ministry of Health more than half of Iraq's doctors have left. With fewer personnel, the additional influx of civilian casualties in the hospitals places the system under inconceivable strain.
Despite all evidence, some political leaders continue to insist that the situation is improving, as though the brutal TV images of the war did not exist, as if it were a fantasy invented by evil spirits. The chasm between the people's view of reality and that of their leaders has rarely been greater. ...
More than 40 Afghans killed and wounded by Marines ... no evidence of ANY insurgents
U.S. probe faults Marines for deaths of Afghan civilians | By Ann Scott Tyson and Josh White - WASHINGTON POST | Updated: 04/15/07 6:43 AM
WASHINGTON — A preliminary U.S. military investigation indicates that more than 40 Afghans killed and wounded by Marines after a suicide bombing in a village near Jalalabad last month were civilians, the U.S. commander who ordered the probe said Saturday.
Maj. Gen. Frank Kearney, head of Special Operations Command Central, also said there is no evidence that the Marine Special Operations platoon came under small-arms fire after the bombing, although the Marines reported taking enemy fire and seeing people with weapons. The troops continued shooting at perceived threats as they traveled miles from the site of the March 4 attack, he said. They hit several vehicles, killing 12 people and wounding 35, among them elderly men and women and children.
“We found . . . no brass that we can confirm that small-arms fire came at them,” Kearney said, referring to ammunition casings. “We have testimony from Marines that is in conflict with unanimous testimony from civilians at the sites,” Kearney said in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Qatar, where he oversees all U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and the region.
The results of the preliminary investigation, which are not conclusive, are similar to the findings of an official Afghan human rights inquiry and contradict initial reports that the civilians might have been killed in a small arms attack that followed the suicide bombing.
“We certainly believe it’s possible that the incoming fire from the ambush was wholly or partly responsible for the civilian casualties,” Maj. William Mitchell, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said immediately after the March 4 attack, according to a BBC report.
Saturday, however, Kearney said of the killed and wounded: “Those folks were innocent . . . We were unable to find evidence that those were fighters.” ...
WASHINGTON — A preliminary U.S. military investigation indicates that more than 40 Afghans killed and wounded by Marines after a suicide bombing in a village near Jalalabad last month were civilians, the U.S. commander who ordered the probe said Saturday.
Maj. Gen. Frank Kearney, head of Special Operations Command Central, also said there is no evidence that the Marine Special Operations platoon came under small-arms fire after the bombing, although the Marines reported taking enemy fire and seeing people with weapons. The troops continued shooting at perceived threats as they traveled miles from the site of the March 4 attack, he said. They hit several vehicles, killing 12 people and wounding 35, among them elderly men and women and children.
“We found . . . no brass that we can confirm that small-arms fire came at them,” Kearney said, referring to ammunition casings. “We have testimony from Marines that is in conflict with unanimous testimony from civilians at the sites,” Kearney said in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Qatar, where he oversees all U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and the region.
The results of the preliminary investigation, which are not conclusive, are similar to the findings of an official Afghan human rights inquiry and contradict initial reports that the civilians might have been killed in a small arms attack that followed the suicide bombing.
“We certainly believe it’s possible that the incoming fire from the ambush was wholly or partly responsible for the civilian casualties,” Maj. William Mitchell, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said immediately after the March 4 attack, according to a BBC report.
Saturday, however, Kearney said of the killed and wounded: “Those folks were innocent . . . We were unable to find evidence that those were fighters.” ...
Friday, April 13, 2007
While violence against Iraqis is down in some Baghdad neighborhoods where we have "surged" forces, it is up dramatically in the belt ringing Baghdad.
The Real Surge Story | By Joe Biden | Thursday, April 12, 2007; Page A27
Sen. John McCain[" The War You're Not Reading About," op-ed, April 8] is right to warn about the consequences of failure in Iraq. But he is fundamentally wrong when he argues that those potential consequences require us to stick with a failing strategy.
...
Sen. John McCain[" The War You're Not Reading About," op-ed, April 8] is right to warn about the consequences of failure in Iraq. But he is fundamentally wrong when he argues that those potential consequences require us to stick with a failing strategy.
...
The problem is that for every welcome development, there is an equally or even more unwelcome development that gives lie to the claim that we are making progress. For example:
· While violence against Iraqis is down in some Baghdad neighborhoods where we have "surged" forces, it is up dramatically in the belt ringing Baghdad. The civilian death toll increased 15 percent from February to March. Essentially, when we squeeze the water balloon in one place, it bulges somewhere else.
· It is true that Sadr has not been seen, but he has been heard, rallying his followers with anti-American messages and encouraging his thugs to take on American troops in the south. Intelligence experts believe his militia is simply waiting out the surge.
· Closing markets to vehicles has precluded some car bombs, but it also has prompted terrorists to change tactics and walk in with suicide vests. The road from the airport to Baghdad may be safer, but the skies above it are more lethal -- witness the ironic imposition of "no-fly zones" for our own helicopters.
The most damning evidence that the "results" McCain cites are illusory is the city of Tall Afar. Architects of the president's plan called it a model because in 2005, a surge of about 10,000 Americans and Iraqis pacified the city. Then we left Tall Afar, just as our troops soon will leave the Baghdad neighborhoods that they have calmed.
This month, Tall Afar was the scene of some of the most horrific sectarian violence to date: a massive truck bomb aimed at the Shiite community led to a retaliatory rampage by Shiite death squads, aided by the Iraqi police. Hundreds were killed. The population of Tall Afar, 200,000 a few years ago, is down to 80,000. ...
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