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US and allies 'kill most Iraqis'
Coalition and Iraqi troops may be responsible for killing 60% more non-combatants in Iraq than the insurgents, the BBC has learned. The civilian death toll for the last six months is contained in confidential records obtained by Panorama. More than 2,000 civilians were killed by the authorities, while insurgent attacks accounted for 1,200 deaths. The Iraqi Ministry of Health figures are usually available only to members of Iraq's cabinet. The data covers the period 1 July 2004 to 1 January 2005, and relates to all conflict-related civilian deaths and injuries recorded by Iraqi public hospitals. The figures exclude, where known, the deaths of insurgents. That would be useful to know. How many lives are saved with the premature death of each would-be serial killer? The figures reveal that 3,274 Iraqi civilians were killed and 12,657 wounded in conflict-related violence during the period. Of those deaths, 60% - 2,041 civilians - were killed by the coalition and Iraqi security forces. A further 8,542 were wounded by them. Insurgent attacks claimed 1,233 lives, and wounded 4,115 people, during the same period. How do hospitals decide which perforated corpse is 'civilian' and which is 'insurgent'? Do they have magical insight? Or do they use guesswork and/or trust the word (Lancet-style) of whoever brings them in? Are medical staff intimidated to record dead insurgents as innocent civilians? Do most insurgent casualties fall in Sunni areas where medical staff may sympathise with their cause? How many insurgent dead never find their way to hospitals, to save their families and colleagues from Government and coalition identification? Panorama interviewed US Ambassador John Negroponte shortly before it obtained the figures. He told reporter John Panorama's film Exit Strategy, reported by BBC world affairs editor John Simpson from Baghdad, will be shown at 2215 GMT, Sunday night on BBC One. It's unfortunate that these figures have been revealed by the BBC so close to the polling that there won't be time to seriously question their reliability or veracity before the ballots have been cast. It's also unfortunate that there's no distinction between US and 'allies'' share of the figures. All very unfortunate. But I'm sure the BBC has no intention of furthering an anti-US / anti-coalition / anti-US-sympathetic-Iraqi-politicians agenda or of being a willing mouthpiece for an Iraqi source who regards the BBC as a suitable medium for channeling such a political agenda. They have obviously had the figures long enough to make a documentary about them, and have seen fit to publicise the programme's apparent message, in good time to influence Iraqi voters, yet they won't actually show the programme, with whatever clauses and counter-arguments it may contain, until voting's finished. Which is just coincidental, I'm sure. Posted by: Bulldog 2005-01-29 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=55003 |