your village voice

Pentagon Cooks Iraq Causality Numbers?

According to TBRNews.org, there is reason to believe the US causality numbers in Iraq as reported by the government are much lower than the actual casualties:

We have received copies of manifests from the MATS that show far more bodies shipped into Dover AFP than are reported officially. The educated rumor is that the actual death toll is in excess of 7,000.

Given the officially acknowledged number of over 15,000 seriously wounded (and a published total of 25,000 wounded overall,), this elevated death toll is far more realistic than the current 1,800+ now being officially published. When our research is complete, and watertight, we will publish the results along with the sources In addition to the evident falsification of the death rolls, at least 5,500 American military personnel have deserted, most in Ireland but more have escaped to Canada and other European countries, none of whom are inclined to cooperate with vengeful American authorities. (See TBR News of 18 February for full coverage on the mass desertions)

This means that of the 158,000 U.S. military shipped to Iraq, 26,000 deserted, were killed or seriously wounded. The DoD lists currently being very quietly circulated indicate almost 9,000 dead, over 16,000 seriously wounded (This figure is now over 24,000 Ed) and a large number of suicides, forced hospitalization for ongoing drug usage and sales, murder of Iraqi civilians and fellow soldiers, rapes, courts martial and so on.

Wait... 9,000 deaths vs. the reported 1,800? What is going on?

The reason the Pentagon is able to get away with this numbers game is because they are only counting the US casualties on the ground. If a soldier is fatally wounded and then dies in another country or even in the helicopter from Baghdad, that causality is not counted officially. The reason for the cover-up suggests the unmanagability of the Iraq War overall. The war is taking a much heavier toll on US forces than what the Bush Administration wants to admit. Otherwise, the conclusion is painfully clear: the Iraq War is in chaos.

Of course these numbers are at least reported however "cooked" they may be. The Iraqi civilian death toll is at best only an estimate. Just since July 2004 through January 2005, the civilian casualties have been the following:

• 3,274 people were killed and 12,657 injured in violence related to the war
• 2,041 died as the result of military action (including insurgents, and Iraqi security forces)
• 1,233 were killed after "terrorist" incidents

What all of these numbers suggest is a situation out-of-control. The insurgent effort to re-take Fallujah is simply further evidence that the US military presence, despite its successes, has not provided the sustaining order the Iraqi fledgling democracy needs. It could be perhaps suggested that the US Occupation has simply fanned the flames of insurgent violence and recruitment.

This brings into serious question Bush's "shooting gallery" strategy and how the Iraq War could possibly aid US foreign policy against terrorism.

UPDATE 8/12/2005: Ted Rall recently retracted his political cartoon based on the TBRNews.org information. I still stand by my assessment though I admit the numbers might not be quite as accurate as I had previously believed.

posted by the prisoner @ 8:42:00 AM