Infomaniac: WeBlog

More on casualties

Iraq Body Count has released a new study, done with the Oxford Research Group, and published it as a 28-page PDF: Dossier on Civilian Deaths. The report collates reports from news media and other sources and finds that over 67,000 Iraqis were killed or injured in the two-year period from the March 2003 invasion until March of this year. Of those, over 24,000 were killed, at a rate of 34 a day. BBC report on the study; Another report (with links) from AFP via Yahoo!.
The details of the report are just sad; for example: 51 of the dead were babies. The most killed by occupation: Iraqi security forces and police; and nearly 40 percent were killed by U.S. forces.

Comments on the report from Iraqis: Raed Jarrar, who helped carry out a survey of civilian dead last year in Iraq, has a lot to say. Jarrar is also the subject of discussion these days as his brother disappeared recently and has been discovered in custody of the security police after being abducted from his university. Raed and his family are bloggers and he says:

My dad said that Khalid mentioned something about his writings or his blog. We're not sure whether our blogs are the reason behind the abduction of my brother, but it's one of the possible scenarios. In case if they were, we'll stand for our political values of anti-violence, anti-occupation, pro-dialogue, pro-free speech, and all of the other honourable stands that my family has taken in our lifetime.

Khalid's last post was July 10. His mother's blog hasn't had a post since her return from a trip to the U.S. There's some speculation that the arrest of Khalid is some sort of retaliation for their opinions on the war. Here's what the mother said about how she saw the U.S:

Is this the Capitalism?
How ugly it is, and how I found the people in the west struggling under its weight in their lives; running, panting to supply the minimum level of life. That is the majority of people, and there is a rich, fat minority that sucks the people's money, controlling the market...whom you won't see on the streets; for they travel by private planes, live in special neighborhoods, and use special restaurants...in a far away world...

posted by liz at 2:39 PM