Iraq: New report shows US war left 1 million dead

[Judi Lynn]

Iraq: New report shows US war left 1 million dead
Saturday, April 18, 2015
By Dahr Jamail

Whistleblower website WikiLeaks published a slew of documents on April 16 casting light on secretive efforts by entertainment and electronics giant Sony to lobby the US government on hot button issues such as cracking down on online piracy.

One collection of emails indicates staff from Sony's US subsidiary, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), sought to maneuver around a US$5,000 limit on corporate contributions to political campaigns to contribute to Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's re-election war chest.

One email in the WikiLeaks database read: “Thanks to Governor Cuomo, we have a great production incentive environment in NY and a strong piracy advocate that’s actually done more than talk about our problems.”

“Because of all of this, I think it’s important to significantly support his reelection efforts and NY law only allows corporations to give him $5,000 (which we’ve done) … and, with Michael’s support, we are trying to raise $50k overall. This means I need to ask individual senior execs for support, which is not my favorite thing to do.”

More:
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58788

[99th_Monkey]

1. That is what I remember the number to be too,

Or at least that's what I recall hearing from credible news sources
like Democracy Now, or foreign news outlets like Aljazera or the Guardian.

Of course, the US "official" number was always much much lower,
like 250,000 or so.

[yeoman6987]

2. I wonder if that number includes all countries involved

To make it an overall number. Maybe the United States directly had 250 deaths and the rest is split amongst other countries which is why US uses 250 number. Possible?

[Igel]

4. The mismatch was easy to reconcile.

The "1 million" included not only those killed from flying bits of metal but also those who died indirectly (say, through dysentery) and the unborn who were never born (by looking at predicted births versus actual births).

The goal was to maximize that number and let the reader assign responsibility, even if it meant assigning responsibility not just for the unborn but the non-conceived.

Some of this was like the game of telephone. It was reported as the total reduction in population, which got quickly "translated" into other terms. Finally it was rendered just as "killed because of the US."

The lower numbered included those who were alive and as a fairly direct result of the war stopped being alive. That's the kind of number that can be quibbled with.

[99th_Monkey]

5. Actually 1 million is a very "Conservative estimate"

"Conservative estimate

The report notes, however, that its numbers are a conservative estimate, and that the total number of people killed in the three countries “could also be in excess of 2 million, whereas a figure below 1 million is extremely unlikely”.

Truthout has previously reported on the so-called debate about the true number of dead in Iraq as a result of the US-led invasion and occupation.

It is clear that, as Guilliard said, the mainstream media are loath to report on the true numbers of the dead, as these facts would in themselves be a stunning indictment of US foreign policy.

This is why IBC became the go-to source for casualty counts: Its low-ball figures fit the mainstream narrative of the war's impacts, and the organisation accordingly garnered an extraordinary amount of media coverage.

This long-time reliance on IBC makes the recent report's figures all the more important.

The figure from the recent Body Count report, stunningly high as it is, still only counts deaths in Iraq up until the end of 2011. Some of the worst violence that has engulfed the country has happened since then.

The report also does not account for deaths among the approximately 3 million Iraqi refugees who have been subjected to conflict zones, disease and health problems.

Nevertheless, the report states that its figure for Iraq is “approximately 10 times greater than that of which the public, experts and decision makers are aware of and propagated by the media and major NGOs”."

https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58785

[Moostache]

3. Why does this thread title not match the quoted article at all?

This is odd to see an Iraq war death story in the title and a SOny campaign contribution scandal in the body...

[99th_Monkey]

6. Good Call. Here is the correct link.

https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58785

[Moostache]

7. Thank you!

Its horrifying what was done there for a lie. Its depressing that those responsible not only would not be prosecuted, but they are actively trying to get us into ANOTHER war in the region.