[Shadow_Group] Fw: Occupation Watch Bulletin - Nov. 4, 2004

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Occupation Watch Bulletin
www.occupationwatch.org<http://www.occupationwatch.org/>
by Assaf Kfoury, November 1, 2004
 
IMAGINE MORE THAN ONE MILLION AMERICANS KILLED BY A FOREIGN INVADER
 
Major media outlets reproduced the staggering conclusion of a report in the October 29th issue of The Lancet, a respected medical journal-- more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the beginning of the US/UK invasion in March 2003, mostly by the US Air Force:
 
Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: cluster sample survey
by Les Roberts, Riyadh Lafta, Richard Garfield, Jamal Khudhairi, Gilbert Burnham
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7542<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7542>
 
100,000 Civilian Deaths Estimated in Iraq
by Rob Stein, Washington Post
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7496<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7496>
 
Study: 100,000 Excess Civilian Iraqi Deaths Since War
by Patricia Reaney, Reuters
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7503<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7503>
 
Since the population of the US is about 12 times the population of Iraq, the 100, 000 deaths equal the killing of 1.2 million American civilians. While the office of British PM Tony Blair took notice of The Lancet report and, not surprisingly, denied its findings, the two American presidential candidates carried on with their campaigning without expressing the slightest concern for the findings of the Lancet report.
 
No 10 challenges civilian death toll
by Patrick Wintour & Richard Norton-Taylor
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7506<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7506>
 
When asked about Iraqi casualties in the early phases of the occupation, US General Tommy Franks famously replied, "we don't do body counts."  As with so many other criminal actions in this atrocious war, the mighty US/UK coalition forces have not deemed it important to assess the extreme human devastation they have inflicted on Iraq. In four weeks, a small team of 4 public health researchers and 7 interviewers, with very limited resources and no security escorts, completed the Lancet survey.
 
The explanation for the alleged dismissal of "body counts" may be simpler--The US Army, having learned from "the controversy over body counts in Vietnam," does collect numbers of civilian casualties, but its policy is not to make them public (as if this could shield it from public criticism):
 
Pentagon suppresses details of civilian casualties, says expert
by Raymond Whitaker, U.K. Independent
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7535<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7535>
 
Saddam Hussein, by some accounts, was responsible for the killing of about 300,00 of his subjects, although no one has been able to verify more than a small fraction of the figure.  If it is correct, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter notes, "it took Saddam decades to reach such a horrific statistic," while the US/UK coalition has "reached a third of that total in just 18 months." In the face of such an abomination, where is the U.S. public's shame and rage?
 
The war on Iraq has made moral cowards of us all
by Scott Ritter
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7545<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7545>
 
PLANNING FOR SLAUGHTER IN FALLUJAH
 
Preparations for an all-out attack on Falluja are under way. Having learned nothing from past imperial adventures, "The logic is: You flatten Fallujah, hold up the head of Fallujah, and say 'Do our bidding, or you're next.' "
 
Behind Fallujah strategy
The US hopes a hard strike on the city will send a message to other militants.
by Scott Peterson
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7534<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7534>
 
In spite of overwhelming opposition from its public (and its soldiers in Iraq), the British government is all too eager to provide a helping hand to its senior American partner:
 
British Troops Move North Toward Baghdad
Washington Post/Associated Press
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7473<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7473>
 
Poll shows public opposes Black Watch move in Iraq
by Alan Travis, The Guardian
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7460<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7460>
 
'Nervous and angry', the Black Watch arrive in the Triangle of Death
by Colin Brown, U.K Independent
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7509<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7509>
 
For the hapless inhabitants of Fallujah the choice is harrowing - either abandon their city, or stay put and face death. Borzou Daraghi and former Occupation Watch director Nermeen al-Mufti report from inside Fallujah:
 
Lives uprooted inside Fallujah
Many have fled besieged city
by Borzou Daragahi, Boston Globe
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7413<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7413>
 
Who are the terrorists in Falluja and how are they terrorising the civilian population?
by Nermeen Al-Mufti, Al-Ahram
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7406<http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7406>
 
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