Figures Not Shown To Scale
I think there is a reason why the Pentagon does not track Iraqi deaths.
I think the reason is that Americans are basically decent, caring people.
I think that if Americans were fully aware of how much death and destruction our invasion and occupation of Iraq is causing, I think Americans would search for better alternatives, alternatives that do not include the deaths of soldiers, policemen, and civilians.
The New York Times has drawn a chart depicting the deaths in Iraq in January 2006. Not the whole war so far, just one month. 31 days = 800 human lives.
I am not saying that America is directly responsible for each and every one of those 800 deaths. But our part in this drama is large. We are the party most able to control our own actions.
800 in 1 month. If we laid them all end to end, that would be 15 football fields long. That is a long, long line of death. It is hard to wrap the mind around 1 month's worth of violence in Iraq. How long have we been there? How long are we going to stay?
It is time for us to shut this disaster down. Collateral Damage is not Free.
posted by Jay Larsen at 11:14 AM
1 Comments:
I'm feeling cynical tonight: I don't think that were the Pentagon keeping track of the numbers of Iraqi dead from this war that it would make a difference.
Certainly the Pentagon wouldn't be making these numbers any more public than organizations that have been keeping unofficial counts that even the President has referred to when asked about the number of casualties.
Post a Comment
<< Home