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Subject: Civilian War Deaths in Iraq
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Forwarded with Compliments of Free Voice of America (FVOA): Accurate
News and Interesting Commentary for Amerika's Huddled Masses Yearning
to Breathe Free. NOTE: Thanks to globalresearch.ca for this. --
kl, pp

August 21, 2003

Civilian War Deaths in Iraq

Memo To: Website Fans, Browsers, Clients From: Jude Wanniski Re: A
Freedom Party Report

You probably did not notice, but I doubt you have ever read an
estimate, formal or informal, of the number of Iraqi civilians who
were killed in the recent Gulf War. Collateral damage in the USA's
"liberation" of the Iraqi people. I'm not in any position to validate
the report you will see here from Dr. Mohammed Al-Obaidi, the general
coordinator of the Iraqi Freedom Party, but it does not seem
unreasonable. I've run reports from the Freedom Party from time to
time and its arguments on what is really happening on the ground
have proven far more accurate than the rosy scenarios coming from
the Pentagon. The report on civilian FATAL casualties in a nation
of 23 million is staggering, the equivalent in percentage terms of
460,000 civilian deaths if such havoc were wrought in the US.

To add in the number of young Iraqi soldiers killed in the conflict
- an equal number? -- further staggers the mind. It is only when
you contemplate these horrific statistics can you understand why
there is such crazed hatred of the US and why it cannot be smothered
by killing more Iraqis. Al-Obaidi writes to me personally because
he knows I have been able to get these reports of his Freedom Party
-- which has for years opposed the Saddam regime -- circulating in
the US. The report may not be entirely accurate, but I would hope
it would spur the press corps into investigating on its own. Reporters
who would like to contact Dr. Al-Obaidi can contact me for his
e-mail address in the U.K.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * To: Mr. Jude Wanniski From: Dr. Mohammed Al-Obaidi General
coordinator of the Iraqi Freedom Party

The World, and particularly the peace-loving World is far from
knowing the truth of the real number of civilian casualties during
the American-led aggression on Iraq.

Although we know that there were groups of organizations (see
 http://www.iraqbodycount.net) who tried their utmost best to come
up with an accurate figure of the total civilian death, but reaching
the sites where these deaths occurred was one major obstacle in
their effort. Besides, the language barrier and hesitation of the
people in Iraq to talk to foreigners were also part of the lack of
accurate information regarding this issue.

As the general coordinator of the Iraqi Freedom Party, I made a
request to our Party Headquarters in Iraq to fully investigate this
matter and to come up with accurate and up-to-date information of
the total civilians killed during the invasion of Iraq.

After more than five weeks of intensive and thorough investigations
carried out by hundreds of our party's cadre, which included all
villages, towns, cities and some of the desert areas etc. affected
by the aggression (with exception of the Kurdish area), and also
by interviewing hundreds of undertakers, hospital officials and
ordinary people in these places, the figure of civilians killed
since the beginning of the invasion came to 37,137. This figure
does not include militia, para-military or Saddam's Fiday'een.

The breakdown of the total number of civilians killed during the
invasion of Iraq is as follows (Please note that the names underneath
represent that of 14 Governorates, excluding Iraqi Kurdistan):

Baghdad 6103 Mosul 2009 Basrah 6734 Nasiriyah 3581 Diwaniyah
1567 Kut 2494 Hillah 3552 Karbala (including Najaf) 2263
Samawah 659 Amarah 2741 Ramadi 2172 Kerkuk 861 Diyalah 604 Tikrit
1797

The above figures were the actual civilian deaths killed violently
since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in March this year and
until the middle of June (including those killed after the fall of
Saddam's regime and who in a way of another caught between gunfire
of the US troops and the Iraqi resistance).

Due to the absence in Iraq (with the exception of the Kurdish area)
of functional communication systems with the outside World, our
party headquarter in Baghdad tried to send me a fully comprehensive
and detailed report by fax from Al-Sulaymaniyah (a Kurdish area).

However, by crossing to the Kurdish area, the Kurdish "Peshmarga"

searched the person carrying that report which was found with him
and confiscated it. Accordingly, he was handed over to the American
troops where he was arrested and no one knows yet of his whereabouts.

This incident clearly indicates that the US Army does not want the
truth of the civilian casualties made public.

We want the whole World to know the reality behind what misery was
inflicted on our people during this aggression, not to mention the
14 years of economic embargo.

We believe that our people, like all the people of the World, deserve
to live decently and without any more oppression. But what we see
in Iraq since its occupation was nothing but more oppression and
more humiliation, and this time by the aggressors.

The appointment by the American Administrator to Iraq of what is
known as "Iraq's interim governing council" is another slap in the
face of the Iraqi people, who genuinely believe that this "Council"

is nothing less than another "Vichy Government" similar to the one
appointed by the Nazis in France. Also, the biggest lethal mistake
committed by the American Administrator was to dissolve the Iraqi
Army and other government personnel, leaving Iraq without any
efficient technocratic power.

What we and the majority of the Iraqis were looking for was an
Interim Council appointed by the Iraqis and not by the occupier.
We also believe that what was brought by the occupier will not serve
the Iraqis, but the occupier and its interests. After four months
of the fall of Saddam's regime, and following the continued volatile
situation in Iraq, and the lack of the basic needs of the Iraqi
people, Iraqis are talking now about what President Nasser of Egypt
said: "what was taken by force must be retrieved by force."

If Iraq will not be handed over soon to the real patriotic Iraqis,
a black page will be written again in the history of America and
its allies in Iraq.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *

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