About 3000 people died in the WTC on 9/11, and about 3800 Americans have been killed in action in Iraq, and that's how most of us Americans understand mass murder and the casualties of war.
Iraqis understand mass murder and the casualties of war in a different way. About 500,000 Iraqi children died in consequence of the UN embargo in the 1990s, and about 1,200,000 Iraqis have died under the American invasion and occupation. If we adjust those figures according to the difference in population between the United States and Iraq, it's as if 6,000,000 American children had been killed by an embargo, and 15,000,000 Americans had died in consequence of an invasion and occupation.
Even if we forget about the difference between the population of Iraq and the population of the United States, 1,200,000 is still a very large number. It's as if something like 9/11 has happened to the Iraqis 400 times.
400 Iraqis have died for every American killed on 9/11.
Now the Democrats have signed off on an appropriation to continue the occupation, and they may soon sign off on another. The Democratic leadership understands the occupation of Iraq in their own way, as an element of domestic politics, and Iraqis understand it as genocide of the same magnitude as Rwanda and Darfur.
I'm a Democrat, and as angry as I am at my own party for playing along with this abomination, I haven't forgotten who made it happen.
Goddamn George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and all who travel with them!
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Number I keep up with and
Number I keep up with and try to keep current at http://tinyurl.com/ywxone - 4,522 Dead - mostly from the Bush, "Rush to War in Iraq," looking for weapons of mass destruction - a war now costing America 2 billion dollars a week... 80 Coffins Came Home from Iraq a minimum of 24 separate months since the beginning of hostilities in March, 2003. In 23 of those months, there were even greater numbers of Coalition Causalities - between 81 & 141, dead, through Aug. 2007. As of this entry, 22:36;(09/17/2007), 4,522 Allied Soldiers (men and women) have died in the Middle East Wars (including Afghanistan). This week we have over 169,000 American Soldiers in Iraq. Over 2 million Iraqis have become refugees now living outside their country's boarders, and over an additional 2 million Iraqis have become displaced from their homes still living within Iraq. 136 journalists have lost their lives in Iraq - as accidents and as targets. It is now estimated that 600,000 Iraqis & Afghans have lost their lives since 2003 is a low-ball figure. Data from the respected British marketing research firm Opinion Research Business, indicate that as many as 1,220,580 Iraqis have died as a result of the war and occupation of Iraq since March 2003. It is reported that about 810 American civilians (in the private sector) have been killed - including security forces like BlackWater-employed (whose numbers around the world are in the thousands - several thousand in Iraq - soldiers of fortune who can, and do, kill innocent civilians without punity. The US Dept. of Defense lists “American Soldiers Wounded,” at 27,848 (In Combat) however, if you add all casualties - that number goes up to over 30,000, and DoD reports that all injuries in Iraq - including non-combat, those returned to the field, and other illnesses treated, raises the count total to over 122,000 souls. Four Americans are MIA (Missing in Action). 122 American soldiers have died of, 'Self-Inflicted' wounds (101 in Iraq in the last 12 months) - there's a trend. Its estimated 45,000 troops will return home suffering from PTSS, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Also, we know that Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, has become the trademark of this war. These injuries often take months, if not years, to fully manifest themselves, so, it might amount to 150,000 soldiers who will come home suffering TBI - if withdrawal of troops from Iraq takes place soon, otherwise this number could be underestimated - especially now that Bush is talking about an, "Enduring Relationship," in Iraq. The U.S. Government does not release figures of Veteran survivors who have lost 1,2,3, or all their limbs - although it's estimated from other sources that the number of American amputees is above 22,000 victims. All the above information is based upon figures that are web-published at either, http://antiwar.com/casualties/, or http://icasualties.org/oif/... & reports from news services like PBS, CNN, MSNBC, BBC & the US Gov.'s Department of Defense. Meanwhile, President Bush continues to Bully America, and its politicians, into following this ill-notion that not supporting his, "Forever War," is equal to not supporting our troops - how cowardly and presumptuous this narrow-minded man is who only sees American's Blood and Treasures spent - as an investment towards the future of his own blood and treasure...
__________________________Music in poetry, song in verse, visions are greatest from hunger, and thirst...
Something like 5 million (or
Something like 5 million (or more?) internally and externally displaced - imagine not 200,000 displaced from New Orleans, but something like 60 million fleeing their homes because of the chaos brought on by a foreign occupier.
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