Intervention

I have been taking part in an interesting discussion at another blog concerning the Iraq War. I am severely outnumbered, but that just adds to the interest. During a fairly heated debate with a particular individual, the claim of over 1 million Iraqi civilians deaths was given. This is certainly not my opinion. As proof of the rediculous claim, this web site was offered. This is where it really gets interesting.justforeignpolicy.org offers this counter as a running estimate of Iraqi civilan deaths.

Here is some of what you will find in that “explanation“:

The Lancet study already demonstrated that, as of July 2006, the deaths caused by the U.S. invasion of Iraq rivaled the death toll of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Our update suggests that it has now surpassed even high estimates of deaths in Rwanda. (Note that this does not even include Iraqi deaths attributable to the 1991 Gulf War or the sanctions imposed on the population between the two wars.)

Realization of the daunting scale of the death and suffering inflicted on Iraqis should add urgency to efforts to end the occupation and to prevent such “pre-emptive” invasions or “interventions” in the future. The American people need to rein in their government and create a new kind of foreign policy, one based on cooperation, law, and diplomacy rather than violence and aggression.

And there it is. The 1991 Gulf War was an “intervention.”

Evidently we should have minded our own damn business while Iraq steamrolled through Kuwait, shot missles at Israel (who had no troops involved), and eyeballed Saudi Arabia. Then we should have minded our own damn business while Iraq continued to build up its WMD program that the sanctions and further bombings are largely accreditted for removing. I have no doubt that had things happened that way, justforeignpolicy.org would still condemn our “pre-emptive invasion.”

What you won’t find in that explanation are the words “terrorist,” “suicide bomb,” “sectarian violence,” or even “civil war.” In fact, you won’t find them anywhere on the entire web site. It’s as if we are getting blamed for every death in Iraq. I can assure you, in the discussion I was in-we (and the UK) are. And I am the only person using the words above.

To argue against the number given, I will refer to the one voice who supported my stance:

In order for those figures to be correct, an average of more than 600 deaths per day has had to have been maintained for every single one of the 1500 approximate days the U.S. military has been on the ground.

I believe that says enough.

That is just some of the garbage that is being fed, devoured, and regurgitated by the leftosphere.