U.S. invasion responsible deaths of over 250,000 civilians in Iraq

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11674.htm

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U.S. invasion responsible deaths of over 250,000 civilians in Iraq

Original address http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Iraq_war.php
by John Stokes

   	Iraq War

New studies make the Bush administration's "liberation" argument for a
'pre-emptive' war against Iraq seem questionable.

The invasion of Iraq in March 2003 by U.S.-led coalition forces has been
responsible for the death of at least 150,000 civilians (not including
certain of Iraq), reveals a compilitation of scientific studies and
corroborated eyewitness testimonies.

The majority of these deaths, which are in addition those normally
expected from natural causes, illness and accidents, have been among
women and children, documents a well-researched study, that had been
released by The Lancet Medical Journal.

The report in the British journal is based on the work of teams from the
Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University in the U.S., and the
Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad.

A similar methodology was used in the late 1990's to calculate the
number of deaths from the war in Kosovo, put at 10,000.

The information was obtained as Iraqi interviewers surveyed 808
families, consisting of 7,868 people, in 33 different "clusters" or
neighbourhoods spread across the country.

In each case, they asked how many births and deaths there had been in
the home since January 2002.

That information was then compared with the death rates in each
neighbourhood in the 15 months before the invasion that toppled
president Saddam Hussein, adjusted for the different time frames, and
extrapolated to cover the entire 24.4 million population of Iraq.

The most common cause of death is as a direct result of a worsening
'culture of violence', mostly caused by indiscriminate U.S. co-ordinated
air strikes, and related military interventions, reveals the study of
almost 1000 households scattered across Iraq. And the risk of violent
death just after the invasion was 58 times greater than before the war.
The overall risk of death was 1.5 times more after the invasion than before.

The on-going American Occupation has also created worsened civil strife
as well as mass environmental destructions and related public health
problems that is associated with American bomb-related released
radioactive and other life-threatening pollutions. The American
Occupation has also prevailed over the neglect to the repairing of vital
public services-related infrastructure, which include U.S.-led
destructions of water systems.

The figure of 100,000 had been based on somewhat "conservative
assumptions", notes Les Roberts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health, Baltimore, U.S., who led the study.

That estimate excludes Falluja, a hotspot for violence. If the data from
this town is included, the compiled studies point to about 250,000
excess deaths since the outbreak of the U.S.-led war.

Many Americans have complained that more than $200 billion U.S. tax
dollars have been diverted from vitally needed public services in the
United States, into apparently reckless activities. These activities are
resulting in inflicted mass-casualities against totally innocent
civilians, which have worsened conditions for political extremism, and
ensuing "terrorism".

It is well documented that such activities are being viewed by many
Iraqis, and other peoples internationally, to undermine a popular
feeling of international security in general. Indeed, polls suggest that
Americans felt much more secure under the former political ledership of
U.S. President Bill Clinton, as compared to the militaristic strategies
which are being pursued by the George W. Bush administration.
"

over 250,000 civilians in Iraq, en met politieke steun vanuit Nederland ...

Henk Elegeert

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