why we never hear about the iraqui civilian total death count?

Question

i mean why the press almost never talks about it

Answer 1

Check out this website.

Answer 2

WE don't hear about the Iraqi civilian death count because:
1) That's not the argument which is most effective at moving the American public against the war .. the dead soldier count is,
2) It's too difficult to distinguish between the insurgents/terrorists and the people that they hide behind or that aid and abet them with lodgings and food and weaponry, etc.

Truth be said, most of the "civilian casualties" are those who were helping them, hiding them, shielding them, and supporting them, because those people spend so much more time around them than the average, unsympathetic Iraqi civilian.

For instance, if 50 terrorists are being lodged at 1 "civilian's" house, consisting of say, 4 civilians (2 parents and 2 kids) who are also procurring ammunitions and maintaining their weaponry, and that house is bombed, how many civilian casualties are there (0, 4, or 54?) if all die? I say 0, because the family is "in bed with the terrorists," almost literally. In the military, supply personnel are considered soldiers also. If two "civilians" (potentially a gunner and an assistant gunner) run into the street to grab a heavy machine gun and are shot to death upon touching the equipment, how many civilians died? I say 0, because they established the intent to control the equipment (this situation happened several times in Fallujah, Iraq). But there are those who would unequivocally answer 54, and 2, respectively, to the last two scenarios; the 50 terrorists would be counted as civilians because they dress like civilians and mix with the civilians for cover as they execute their lethal operations. The difference between these two perspectives yield far different numbers: 0 and 56 respectively.

The only civilian is the person who refuses to DIRECTLY support any group militarily. And if a terrorist happens to reveal a weapon behind such a person (whether acting willfully or unwillfully as cover for the terrorist), then is it expected that the US soldiers hold their fire while taking casualties from an active terrorist aggressor? If the "human shield" acts unwillfully in that capacity, then perhaps a civilian. And if the US soldiers fire upon the terrorist and kill both, then IMHO neither the US soldiers nor the US are to be held accountable for that civilian death. The terrorists are responsible for the deaths of the unwilling civilians behind whom they hide.

The Iraqi "civilian death toll" doesn't strengthen the cause against the War in Iraq (the agenda of the media and of the Democrats), but instead strengthens the cause for the War on Terror and against the terrorists. Therefore the media has no rational reason for covering the Iraqi civilian deaths because this hurts their agenda to get us out of Iraq by inflaming the American public against the terrorists. This is probably the main reason why we don't hear about it from the media.

Answer 3

Mostly because it is impossible to get any kind of reliable number.

For example dead insurgents, Iraqi Army and Iraqi police are all included in the 'dead civilian' numbers.

Then there is the political aspect - opponents to the war throw out wildly exaggerated numbers in order to 'prove' their point.

The Iraq Body Count website is an example of a source that 'cooks' the numbers to support their politics. Iraq demographics are 40% under the age of 14 and roughly 50-50 male female. If these people were all civilians we would be seeing 40% of the people reported on this website to be children and something near a 50-50 split between male and female.

The fact that we are not seeing this means that there is something wrong with their numbers. The fact that they do not distinguish between combatants and civilians explains the odd numbers they get.

In fact - if you multiply the female death rate by 2 - you will likely get a reasonable approximation of the true civilian death toll in Iraq.

Answer 4

Not only that more than million Iraqis have fled the country to Jordan, Syria, other countries. And the US only issued about 500 visas to Iraqis since the invasion. Just 500. I don't get it. We go in there to 'free' people, but when they try to run from death squad and suicide bombers we say 'no, you can't come into our country.' Plus, lot of these Iraqis are people who worked for the US troops(translators) and they have hard time seeking refuge in the US. That's pretty messed up if you think about it. Just 500 Iraqis allowed into our country. And over million Iraqis displaced since the invasion. I think I know why they don't publish that figure. It's probably because people think all Iraqis are 'terrorists.' I think lot of evidences show the invasion have lot of political motives rather than genuine concern of Iraqi people. There's so much effort to dress it up, play the pr game, but hardly any plan and effort on how to actually help Iraqi people who struggle every minute. May be it's just poor planning. May be people just don't care about Iraqi citizens.

Answer 5

The press does not operate freely in Iraq due to the obvious security issues, so cannot tabulate a fully accurate list. The US military does not conduct bodycounts of insurgents, because the enemy wears no uniform. Plus they got in trouble for counting civilians as the enemy in vietnam.

Finally, in addition to "war dead", there is just plain old crime and lawlessness, which is so much easier to get away with BECAUSE the law enforcement is overwhelmed by terrorrism.

Answer 6

Bildymoon, you're an idiot, the enemy isn't the Iraqi's. Think hard, try and remember, we're trying to liberate them! If we want all of them dead, then why didn't we just nuke the place, why are we even there? Dont be so ignorant. The Iraqi's aren't the enemy. You should educate yourself about the war. Look at the website www.pbs.org and search for "the lost year in Iraq" . You're simple minded logic is the problem with America

Answer 7

Because we dont care. The only death toll I want to hear is when they are all dead. Then we can come home.
PS if you are going to email me a comment please be kind enough to have your email address verified so that I can comment back.
"In response to your response, yes the Iraqi's are the enemy. If you dont believe so then turn your back on one. I have educated myself on the war and I am very involved with the politics of this nation. As to your question about the death tolls. Again why should we care. Did anyone worry about how many Germans were killed during the war. Or the Japanese. I think not. The Liberals have tried to tell us that we should be more concerned with our enemy's than ourselves. I hope that you will be smart enough, not to listen to there dribble. "

Answer 8

1. There's too many (and no-one's counting)
2. The press cannot tell the truth about anything.

Answer 9

The reason we don't have a number is because it is too hard to tell. During war people go unaccounted for and you don't know if they are dead or if they have just refuged somewhere else and didn't tell thier families.

Answer 10

47,249—52,414

There, now you heard about it.

Edit: And because the American mainstream news media have determined that their biggest market consists of assholes like the first poster. Ignorant, bloodthirsty chickenhaws and armchair fascists, cheering on the carnage, sitting on their fat asses rooting for Team USA in front of the TV.
You think this is a game or something? Wait until someone liberates your children from their limbs with a cluster bomb.

Answer 11

Because some idiots equate the civillian deathtoll as being 100% american caused.