May 01 2008

Misery Accomplished

May 1, 2003, is another day of infamy for the Bush administration and America. In the kind of staged bravado dictators relish, George W. Bush donned a flight suit, pretended to fly, and then used an aircraft carrier as the backdrop for a speech to declare the mission in Iraq accomplished. Every cable news channel carried the event live as if history were somehow being made. It is time to look back at five years of accomplishments in Iraq.

Photobucket

Military Casualties: United States

Dead: 4063

Photobucket

During April of 2008, 51 U.S. soldiers gave their life in Iraq:


Specialist David P. McCormick

Private 1st Class Adam L. Marion

Sergeant Marcus C. Mathes

Sergeant Mark A. Stone

Private 1st Class William T. Dix

Staff Sergeant Shaun J. Whitehead

Sergeant Guadalupe Cervantes Ramirez

Private 1st Class John T. Bishop

1st Lieutenant Timothy W. Cunningham

Staff Sergeant Ronald C. Blystone

Private Ronald R. Harrison

Lance Corporal Jordan C. Haerter

Corporal Jonathan T. Yale

Airman Apprentice Adrian M. Campos

1st Lieutenant Matthew R. Vandergrift

Specialist Steven J. Christofferson

Sergeant Adam J. Kohlhaas

Petty Officer 1st Class Cherie L.

Specialist Benjamin K. Brosh

Specialist Lance O. Eakes

Staff Sergeant Jason L. Brown

Specialist Arturo Huerta-Cruz

Sergeant Joseph A. Richard III

Corporal Richard J. Nelson

Lance Corporal Dean D. Opicka

Specialist William E. Allmon

Technical Sergeant Anthony L. Capra

Specialist Jeremiah C. Hughes

Sergeant Jesse A. Ault

Specialist Jacob J. Fairbanks

Staff Sergeant Jeffery L. Hartley

Major Mark E. Rosenberg

Sergeant Timothy M. Smith

Sergeant Michael T. Lilly

Specialist Jason C. Kazarick

Sergeant Richard A. Vaughn

Staff Sergeant Jeremiah E. McNeal

Staff Sergeant Emanuel Pickett

Private 1st Class Shane D. Penley

Colonel Stephen K. Scott

Major Stuart A. Wolfer

Captain Ulises Burgos-Cruz

Specialist Matthew T. Morris

Staff Sergeant Travis L. Griffin

6 names not released pending notification of family members

Wounded: 29829 (does not include concussive traumatic brain injuries, estimated to be over 20,000)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Military Casualties: Other Coalition

Dead: 309

Wounded: No Information Available

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Journalists

The Iraq war has produced the highest casualty rate among journalists of any conflict in recorded history. Many of the journalists were deliberately murdered.

Iraq has the worst track record when it comes to solving cases of murdered journalists, according to a new survey compiled by a U.S. journalism rights organization. The Committee to Protect Journalists compared the prosecution rates in journalists’ murders around the world and came up with a list of the 13 worst countries on the basis of unsolved killings per capita. Iraq has had 79 unsolved journalist murders in a total population of 28 million (rate of 2.82 murders per million people).

Source

Here is a list of the journalists that have died in Iraq:

Frederic Nerac

Paul Moran

Terry Lloyd

Gaby Rado

Kaveh Golestan

Michael Kelly

David Bloom

Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed

Christian Liebig

Julio Anguita Parrado

Jose Couso

Taras Protsyuk

Tareq Ayyoub

Veronica Cabrera

Mario Podesta

Elizabeth Neuffer

Richard Wild

Jeremy Little

Mazen Dana

Ahmad Kareem

Ahmed Shawkat

Duraid Isa Mohammed

Abdel Sattar

Abdel Karim

Ayoub Mohamed

Gharib Mohamed Salih

Haymin Mohamed Salih

Safir Nader

Semko Karim Mohyideen

Ali Abdel Aziz

Nadia Nasrat

Ali al-Khatib

Burhan Mohamed Mazhour

Assad Kadhim

Mounir Abdallach Bouamrane

Waldemar Milewicz

Rashid Hamid Wali

Kotaro Ogawa

Shinsuke Hashida

Sahar Saad Eddin Nuami

Mahmoud Hamid Abbas

Enzo Baldoni

Mazen Tomeizi

Dina Mohammed Hassan

Karam Hussein

Liqaa Abdul-Razzaq

Nasrallah al-Dawoodi

Dhia Najim

Wadallah Sarhan

Abdul-Hussein Khazal

Raeda Wazzan

Laik Ibrahim

Hussam Sarsam

Ali Ibrahim Issa

Fadhil Hazem Fadhil

Ahmed al-Rubai’i

Shamal Abd Allah Assad

Saleh Ibrahim

Ahmad Adam

Ali Jassem Al Rumi

Najem Abd Khudair

Jerges Mohammed Sultan

Jassim Al Qais

Maha Ibrahim

Ahmed Wael Bakri

Yasser Salihee

Khalid al-Attar

Hind Ismail

Adnan al-Bayati

Steven Vincent

Rafed Mahmoud Said al-Anbagy

Waleed Khaled

Fakher Haider

Firas Maadidi

Ahlam Youssef

Bassem al-Fadli

Mohammad Harun Hassan

Ahmed Hussein Al-Maliki

Aqeel Abdul Ridha

Muqdad Muhsin

Mahmoud Zaal

Adnan Khairullah

Atwar Bahjat

Khalid Mahmoud

Munsuf Abdallah al-Khaldi

Amjad Hamee

Mohsen Khudair

Laith al-Dulaimi

Muazaz Ahmed

Muzahim al-Hadithi

James Brolan

Paul Douglas

Alaa Hassan

Abdul Wahab Abdul Razeq Ahmad Al Qaisie

Riyad Muhammad Ali

Ismail Amin Ali

Mohammed Abbas Hamad

Iyad Nassif al-Mousawai

Hadi Anawi al-Joubouri

Safaa Ismail Inad

Ahmed Riyadh al-Karbouli

Azad Mohammed Hassan

Raed Qais al-Shammari

Abdul Majeed Ismael Khalil

Ahmed Rasheed

Mohammed al-Ban Gunmen

Fadia Mohammed Ali

Nabil al Dulaimi

Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah

Ahmed Hadi Naji

Khudr Younis al-Obaidi

Abdel Razeq Hashim al-Khaqani

Jamal al-Zubaidi

Mohan al-Zaher

Youssef Sabri

Khamail Muhsin

Iman Youssef Abdullah

Dmitry Chebotayev

Alaa Uldeen Aziz

Saif Laith Yousuf

Abdul-Rahman al-Essawi

Saif M. Fakhry

Sahar al-Haidari

Mohammed Hilal Karji

Filaih Wadi Mijthab

Zeena Shakir Mahmoud

Rahim Al-Maliki

Hamid Abd Sarhan

Sarmad Hamdi al-Hassani

Namir Noor-Eldeen

Saeed Chmagh

Khalid Hassan

Adnan Al-Safi

Anwar Abbas Lafta

Jawad al-Daami

Abdul-Khaliq Nasir

Salih Saif Aldin

Alaa Abdul-Karim al-Fartoosi

Hisham Michwet

Shihab al-Timimi

Qassim Abdul-Hussein

Jassim al-Batat

5 Iraqi journalists names unknown

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Iraqi Casualties

Photobucket

There are no official estimates of Iraqis killed during the war. The United States proudly proclaims that it does not count Iraqi deaths. The Iraqi government lacks the resources to track the dead. This leaves only estimates from stratified random samples that have been criticized by the Bush administration.

During his most recent presentation before Congress, Gen. Petraeus showed a graph of Iraqi casualties, but his estimates are much lower than deaths recorded from published sources.  We are not allowed to question the integrity of the great Petraeus so we are left to ponder the discrepancies.  

The most conservative estimate based on survey data found that civilian violent deaths were approximately three times the rate tracked by Iraq Body Count.  Based on current data from the Iraq Body Count, the lower bound estimate would be between 249,663 – 272,346.

The upper bound estimate uses data from other surveys and is now at 1,205,025.

Remember this. The best estimates available indicated that between 1% and 4% of the Iraqi civilian population has been killed in violence over the past five years of occupation by the United States. In the United States population, that would translate to 3 to 12 million deaths.  

Despite the so-called surge, civilian deaths in Iraq during April of 2008 reached the highest level since September of 2007: 1,319, including 58 children.  The Iraqi government estimates 122 civilians were killed by US forces.

There is no information on the number of Iraqis wounded during the conflict.

Misery Accomplished.

Photobucket

13 comments

Skip to comment form

    • DWG on May 1, 2008 at 16:51
      Author
    • #

    Photobucket

  2. Can you fucking believe the list of journalists? It just goes on and on.

    This is a human disaster; the U.S. ruling class is like the black plague.

    Remember the White Rose movement in Nazi Germany? We need to do the same and stand up against this mass murder.  

    • kj on May 1, 2008 at 18:51
    • #

    is correct, ches.  Mass f’ing murder.  Nothing less.

  4. But having it laid out again, as you’ve done, makes it really clear: the Occupation is utterly out of control and has to be ended.  Right now.

    I don’t understand how El Presidente has even 21% approval.  And I don’t understand how Bushco can be getting away with this.    

    • DWG on May 2, 2008 at 00:30
      Author
    • #

    http://www.juancole.com/

    In today’s commentary, Juan Cole makes some choice comments on key phrases from Bush babble from 5 years ago. His comments are bracketed.

    Here are some memorable phrases from Bush’s mendacious speech half a decade ago:

    ‘ . . . major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. . .

    And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country. . .

    In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty and for the peace of the world. . .

    Because of you our nation is more secure. . . [Note that he is trying to attribute to the poor enlisted men his policies.] . . .

    In the images of fallen statues we have witnessed the arrival of a new era. . . [The statue was pulled down by the US military and the whole thing was staged before a tiny Iraqi crowd, the small size of which media close-ups disguised.] . . .

    In defeating Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Allied forces destroyed entire cities, while enemy leaders who started the conflict were safe until the final days. Military power was used to end a regime by breaking a nation. Today we have the greater power to free a nation by breaking a dangerous and aggressive regime. With new tactics and precision weapons, we can achieve military objectives without directing violence against civilians. . . [The US has probably directly killed about 200,000 Iraqis and destroyed the city of Fallujah as well as damaging and repeatedly bombing others. Bush’s fascist attempt to reconfigure warfare as a humanitarian gesture is the biggest lie of all] . . .

    Men and women in every culture need liberty like they need food and water and air. [Foreign military occupation is not generally considered ‘liberty’ by most people.] . . .

    We’ve begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons, and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. [The sites were being investigated before the war, and nothing was being found, so Bush pulled out the inspectors and went to war. Nothing ever was found.] . . .

    Our coalition will stay until our work is done and then we will leave and we will leave behind a free Iraq. [When will that be exactly?] . . .

    In the battle of Afghanistan, we destroyed the Taliban . . . [ Maybe not so much; this ‘mission accomplished’ passage has not been sufficiently criticized] . . .

    The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. We have removed an ally of Al Qaida and cut off a source of terrorist funding. [There was no operational connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda. None. And the US occupation of Iraq gave al-Qaeda a new lease on life ] . . .

    We are committed to freedom in Afghanistan, Iraq and in a peaceful Palestine. . . [90% of the world fell down laughing at that point in the speech; only gullible, self-righteous Americans could even think about taking this snow job seriously] . . .

  6. about how we are importing the depleted uranium sand from Camp Dohar to a port in Texas then by rail to a disposal site in Idaho.  And yes we are still writing about how George’s “package” is outlined by those flight suit straps and is part of the subliminal messaging technique used to sell things like the war in Iraq to Iserbytian dumbed down Americans.

    That and the price of gas in this war for oil further encourage me to increase my Apocalyptic horse riding skills.

  7. Why don’t you list the names of the Iraqi Dead?

    Why do Americans and then journalist get top billing?

    You said:

    “During April of 2008, 51 U.S. soldiers gave their life in Iraq:”

    Who did they give their “lives” to…or for…

    For American Fascism…

    Don’t romanticize the American Solider….they are Morons…they were trained to be morons by other morons who were appointed by morons who were elected as morons to represent the Moronic American people.

    Too much sentimentality about the American Soldier.

    Soldiers are people who get used….doesn’t matter what nation they are from….Insurgents are a different matter.

    It’s time to point out that if you are going to romanticize soldiery ….you should do it with the insurgents.

    I sympathize exclusively with  the Iraqi insurgency.  At this point there is no other choice.

    America, Americans and American soldiers are the most dispicable life forms on earth at this time…

    I have nothing but disgust for anyone who draws attention first to the American dead….the Americans who have killed 1 million people…for no reason and the American public who has supported them…especially the “liberals” who focus on AMERICAN DEAD and secondarily…

    IRAQI DEAD and the bombing of their “PETS”….

Comments have been disabled.