Above: Victims of a February, 2012 US air strike that killed 8 children in Kapisa, Afghanistan.
Physicians for Social Responsibility releases startling analysis of the death and destruction inflicted upon Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan from the “War on Terror” in Body Count
Deaths Caused by US War On Terror are 10 Times What is Typically Reported in the Media
On March 19, 2015–the 12th anniversary of the onset of our country’s ill-fated military intervention in Iraq–Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is releasing the latest edition of Body Count for North American distribution.
The pdf of Body Count is available for download here:www.psr.org/bodycount
The report, authored by members and colleagues of the German affiliate of the Nobel Prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), is a comprehensive account of the vast and continuing human toll of the various “Wars on Terror” conducted in the name of the American people since the events of September 11, 2001.
This publication highlights the difficulties in defining outcomes as it compares evaluations of war deaths in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even so, the numbers are horrific. The number of Iraqis killed during and since the 2003 U.S. invasion have been assessed at one million, which represents 5% of the total population of Iraq. This does not include deaths among the three million refugees subjected to privations.
Dr. h.c. Hans-C. von Sponeck, UN Assistant Secretary General & UN Humanitarian
Coordinator for Iraq (1998-2000) calls the report, “a powerful aide mémoire of their legal and moral responsibility to hold perpetrators accountable.”
Body Count takes a clear and objective look at the various and often contradictory–reports of mortality in conflicts directed by the U.S. and allied forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The result is a fuller picture of the devastation and lethality to civilian non-combatants throughout these regions. Unfortunately, these deaths have been effectively hidden from our collective consciousness and consciences by political leaders seeking to pursue military solutions to complex global issues with little, if any, accountability.
At a time when our nation is once again contemplating new and expanded military operations in Iraq and Syria, Body Count underscores the scope of human destruction that helps fuel the widespread anger at the Coalition Forces. It similarly provides the context to understand the rise of brutal forces such as ISIS thriving in the wake of our leaders’ failures. After an estimated cost of at least three trillion dollars over a decade of warfare, we need to fully account for our responsibility and learn the appropriate lessons to avoid a tragic exacerbation of the explosive situation we face today.
Download the report at www.psr.org/bodycount.
Contact: Tim Takaro, MD, MPH, MS
Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences
Simon Fraser University
778-782-7186 ttakaro@sfu.ca