The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
http://www.wanniski.com/showarticle.asp?articleid=2855
August 21, 2003
Civilian War Deaths in Iraq
Memo To: Website Fans, Browsers, Clients
From: Jude Wanniski
Re: A Freedom Party report
You probably did not notice, but I doubt you have ever read an
estimate, formal or informal, of the number of Iraqi civilians who were
killed in the recent Gulf War. Collateral damage in the USA's liberation" of
the Iraqi people. I'm not in any position to validate the report you will
see here from Dr. Mohammed Al-Obaidi, the general coordinator of the Iraqi
Freedom Party, but it does not seem unreasonable. I've run reports from the
Freedom Party from time to time and its arguments on what is really
happening on the ground have proven far more accurate than the rosy
scenarios coming from the Pentagon. The report on civilian FATAL casualties
in a nation of 23 million is staggering, the equivalent in percentage terms
of 460,000 civilian deaths if such havoc were wrought in the US.
To add in the number of young Iraqi soldiers killed in the conflict -
an equal number? -- further staggers the mind. It is only when you
contemplate these horrific statistics can you understand why there is such
crazed hatred of the US and why it cannot be smothered by killing more
Iraqis. Al-Obaidi writes to me personally because he knows I have been able
to get these reports of his Freedom Party -- which has for years opposed the
Saddam regime -- circulating in the US. The report may not be entirely
accurate, but I would hope it would spur the press corps into investigating
on its own. Reporters who would like to contact Dr. Al-Obaidi can contact me
for his e-mail address in the U.K.
* * * * *
To: Mr. Jude Wanniski
From: Dr. Mohammed Al-Obaidi
General coordinator of the Iraqi Freedom Party
The World, and particularly the peace-loving World is far from knowing
the truth of the real number of civilian casualties during the American led
aggression on Iraq.
Although we know that there were groups of organizations (see
http://www.iraqbodycount.net) who tried their utmost best to come up with an
accurate figure of the total civilian death, but reaching the sites where
these deaths occurred was one major obstacle in their effort. Besides, the
language barrier and hesitation of the people in Iraq to talk to foreigners
were also part of the lack of accurate information regarding this issue.
As the general coordinator of the Iraqi Freedom Party, I made a
request to our Party Headquarters in Iraq to fully investigate this matter
and to come up with accurate and up to date information of the total
civilians killed during the invasion of Iraq.
After more than five weeks of intensive and thorough investigations
carried out by hundreds of our party's cadre, which included all villages,
towns, cities and some of the desert areas etc. affected by the aggression
(with exception of the Kurdish area), and also by interviewing hundreds of
undertakers, hospitals officials and ordinary people in these places, the
figure of civilians killed since the beginning of the invasion came to
37,137. This figure does not include militia, para-military or Saddam's
Fiday'een.
The breakdown of the total number of civilians killed during the
invasion of Iraq is as follows (Please note that the names underneath
represent that of 14 Governorates, excluding Iraqi Kurdistan):
Baghdad 6103
Mosul 2009
Basrah 6734
Nasiriyah 3581
Diwaniyah 1567
Kut 2494
Hillah 3552
Karbala (including Najaf) 2263
Samawah 659
Amarah 2741
Ramadi 2172
Kerkuk 861
Diyalah 604
Tikrit 1797
The above figures were the actual civilian deaths killed violently
since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in March this year and until the
middle of June (including those killed after the fall of Saddam's regime and
who in a way of another caught between gunfire of the US troops and the
Iraqi resistance).
Due to the absence in Iraq (with the exception of the Kurdish area) of
functional communication systems with the outside World, our party
headquarter in Baghdad tried to send me a fully comprehensive and detailed
report by fax from Al-Sulaymaniyah (a Kurdish area). However, by crossing to
the Kurdish area, the Kurdish "Peshmarga" searched the person carrying that
report which was found with him and confiscated. According, he was handed
over to the American troops where he was arrested and no one knows yet of
his whereabouts.
This incident clearly indicates that the US Army does not want the
truth of the civilian casualties made public.
We want the whole World knows the reality behind what misery was
inflicted on our people during this aggression, not to mention the 14 years
of economic embargo.
We believe that our people, like all the people of the World, deserve
to live decently and without any more oppression. But what we see in Iraq
since its occupation was nothing but more oppression and more humiliation,
and this time by the aggressors.
The appointment by the American Administrator to Iraq of what is known
as "Iraq's interim governing council" is another slap on the face of the
Iraqi people, who genuinely believe that this "Council" is nothing less than
another "Vichy Government" similar to the one appointed by the Nazis in
France. Also, the biggest lethal mistake committed by the American
Administrator was to dissolve the Iraqi Army, and other government personnel
leaving Iraq without any efficient technocratic power.
What we and the majority of the Iraqis were looking for was an Interim
Council appointed by the Iraqis and not by the occupier. We also believe
that what was brought by the occupier will not serve the Iraqis, but the
occupier and its interests. After four months of the fall of Saddam's
regime, and following the continued volatile situation in Iraq, and the lack
of the basic needs of the Iraqi people, Iraqis are talking now about what
President Nasser of Egypt said: "what was taken by force must be retrieved
by force".
If Iraq will not be handed over soon to the real patriotic Iraqis, a
black page will be written again in the history of America and its allies in
Iraq.
* * * * *
_______________________________________________
Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss
To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk
All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk