The average American believes about 9,900 Iraqis have been killed since Mission Accomplished

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.iraqdead09oct09,0,6936773.story

U.S. must face huge death toll of Iraqi civilians

By Gilbert Burnham and Les Roberts
October 9, 2007

Not wanting to think about civilian deaths in Iraq has become almost universal. But ignorance of the Iraqi death toll is no longer an option.

An Associated Press poll in February found that the average American believed about 9,900 Iraqis had been killed since the end of major combat operations in 2003. Recent evidence suggests that things in Iraq may be 100 times worse than Americans realize.

News report tallies suggest that about 75,000 Iraqis have died since the U.S.-led invasion. But a study of 13 war-affected countries presented at a recent Harvard conference found that more than 80 percent of violent deaths in conflicts go unreported by the press and governments.

City officials in Najaf were recently quoted on Middle East Online stating that 40,000 unidentified bodies have been buried in that Iraqi city since the start of the conflict. In a speech Sept. 5, Samir Sumaidaie, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States, stated that there were 500,000 new widows in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group similarly found that the Pentagon undercounted violent incidents by a factor of 10. Finally, last month, the respected British polling firm ORB released the results of a poll estimating that 22 percent of households had lost a member to violence during the occupation of Iraq, equating to 1.2 million deaths. This finding roughly verifies a less precisely worded BBC poll last February that reported 17 percent of Iraqis had a household member who was a victim of violence.

So multiple polls and scientific surveys all suggest the official figures and media-based estimates in Iraq have missed 70 percent to 95 percent of all deaths. The evidence suggests that the extent of underreporting by the media is only increasing with time.

[unpossibles]

1. not surprising

they also think Saddam was behind 9/11.


I wonder where they get these crazy ideas...?

[LakeSamish706]

2. Try about 1,080,000 give or take.... See attached URL...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

[NNN0LHI]

4. Bush admitted to killing 30,000 Iraqis 2 years ago on live television

Our media dropped it.

Don

[acmavm]

3. Apparently the 'average' American couldn't raise a blip on an

EEG machine either.

[Bigmack]

5. What can you expect....

from a country whose favorite TV show is "Ow... My Balls".....? (see the video "Idiocracy"...)

This isn't ignorance... the information is out there, and readily available. This kind of shit is willful stupidity.

[tuckessee]

6. They're not real people so why bother paying attention?

There was a well-established DU'er saying yesterday "all Iraqis can go to hell" simply because America chose to invade them.

If liberals think like knuckle-draggers just imagine what the real knuckle-draggers think.

[Solly Mack]

7. Damn

Criminal

[Selatius]

8. A better question is do Americans as a nation give a crap about Iraqi civilian deaths? n/t

[NNN0LHI]

9. I bet a buck this thread doesn't make the main page of this liberal web site either

All it takes is 5 recs. It won't get them. Its ixnay on the Iraq genocide even around here.

Don

[silverlib]

10. Well, a K&R from me...

'cause I hope you are wrong

[NNN0LHI]

14. Now you guys are costing me money

:P

[KansDem]

17. I'm in...

K&R!

[RethugAssKicker]

11. The average American is an idiot

[electprogdems]

12. well the media keeps reporting that the latest

tragic security incident invloved 2 "Christian" Iraqi women, apparently that is the word needed to get everyones attention.

[spanone]

13. that's per day, right?

[knitter4democracy]

15. Even my mom has no idea the extent.

And she reads a lot and tries to stay really informed. If the media won't cover it at all, then how are people supposed to know?

[jpgray]

16. That's a huge media failure. And a big administration PR success

Which one likely caused the other? As if you have to ask.