For fucks sake, type "iraqui civilian casualties" into a google search.
The number of civilian casualties is NOT common knowledge, furthermore, it is disputable - and the US military would rather folks not know how many folks have died over there, you know, cuz it sends the wrong message to our troops and our enemies.
Go to iraqbodycount.net (first result) and check their numbers. Their figures are a database compiled from online news reports. The figure is between 9 and 11 thousand, but they include 7,000+ deaths from before May 1, 2003, so at least 3000 civilians have died since then - maybe that's where Seth got his number? Who knows, who cares.
According to the Christian Science Monitor (second worthwhile result)
"Evidence is mounting to suggest that between 5,000 and 10,000 Iraqi civilians may have died during the recent war, according to researchers involved in independent surveys of the country. "
Ya know, if for each 100 civillians killed because of our actions over there, if for each 100 deaths, just 1 survivor vows revenge on America, then the war in Iraq has created at least 70 new fanatics bent on the destruction of America. I'm sure we've killed more than 70 terrorists over there, surely, so at least we've had some net gain from this, right?
That's what I call a predicament.
