by Prof. Michael Schwartz
While the atlantist media is reporting more than 3 000 GI’s killed in Iraq and many civilian victims of inter-confessional violences, it looks away from the daily slaughter of civilians by US patrols conducting their search operations for suspects. Professor Michael Schwartz estimates that their number reached 10 000 a month in the first 3 years of occupation. And much more since Bush ordered his surge of operations.
A state-of-the-art research study published in October 12, 2006 issue of The Lancet (the most prestigious British medical journal) [1] concluded that — as of a year ago — 600,000 Iraqis had died violently due to the war in Iraq. That is, the Iraqi death rate for the first 39 months of the war was just about 15,000 per month.
Full articlepunditman says:This may seem like a high figure at first glance--until you read the article and understand the nature of the US war in Iraq. For the past four years, the US military has conducted over 1,000 patrols every day in hostile territory. With the surge, that number has increased to nearly 5,000 per day, including allied Iraqi troops. These patrols currently mean just under 3,000 firefights every month, or just under 100 per day, plus 25 or so involving Iraqi troops. While it is true that the rules of engagement include avoiding killing civilians, hot pursuit of insurgents clearly takes precedence over civilian safety.
So why don't we hear about the appalling number of civilian deaths at the hands of the US military? Granted, it is highly dangerous for reporters to venture out into the field of operations, (to confirm these numbers), but this only partially explains the lack of reporting on this astounding level of violence. There is certainly enough evidence from official government sources and from reputable scholars and organizations to "do the math," as this writer has done. Instead, the media choose complicity. Hence the criminal enterprise that is the Iraq War continues...
