Monday, June 21, 2004
Counting the cost of "precision warfare"
How can you know whether your strikes are surgical rather than butchery if you don't look or ask? In another crucial Washington Post article, "U.S. Has No Plans to Count Civilian Casualties", it is revealed that the Pentagon has a policy of not keeping track of how many wrongful deaths it causes.
“We don’t do body counts" -- General Tommy Franks, US Central Command
When asked to justify this outrageous policy, miltary spokespeople say things like it's too expensive, too difficult, too impractical, etc. But these are seen to be false rationalising when one looks at IraqBodyCount.Net. This site manages to document the horrific toll of the war just by collating deaths that have already been independently confirmed by reliable sources. If this site can do it, why can't the military?
Many, many more civilians have been killed by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq then were killed in the 9/11 attacks. If we look at children deaths, no doubt the gap is even wider. We should demand at least this of the next White House Administration/Secretary of "Defense": That they make the Pentagon change their policy of not counting. If we can't stop killing innocents, the least we can do is acknowledge how many we do kill...
From Chichester Terrace, Brighton
How can you know whether your strikes are surgical rather than butchery if you don't look or ask? In another crucial Washington Post article, "U.S. Has No Plans to Count Civilian Casualties", it is revealed that the Pentagon has a policy of not keeping track of how many wrongful deaths it causes.
“We don’t do body counts" -- General Tommy Franks, US Central Command
When asked to justify this outrageous policy, miltary spokespeople say things like it's too expensive, too difficult, too impractical, etc. But these are seen to be false rationalising when one looks at IraqBodyCount.Net. This site manages to document the horrific toll of the war just by collating deaths that have already been independently confirmed by reliable sources. If this site can do it, why can't the military?
Many, many more civilians have been killed by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq then were killed in the 9/11 attacks. If we look at children deaths, no doubt the gap is even wider. We should demand at least this of the next White House Administration/Secretary of "Defense": That they make the Pentagon change their policy of not counting. If we can't stop killing innocents, the least we can do is acknowledge how many we do kill...
From Chichester Terrace, Brighton
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