U.S. Media Ignores Estimate of 1 Million Iraqi Deaths

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/us-media-ignores-estima_b_60396.html

Yesterday a radio interviewer in South Africa asked me what had been the response of the "mainstream media in the United States" to Just Foreign Policy's ongoing estimate of the Iraqi death toll from the U.S. invasion and occupation, which on Thursday crossed the one million mark.

Sadly, I had to report that it has been ignored by mainstream media, even the wire services. But this is hardly surprising. A main motivation for constructing the web counter was to keep the "Lancet study" alive. The "Lancet study," you'll recall, was a study published last fall in the British medical journal The Lancet, which estimated that more than 600,000 Iraqis had had been killed as a result of the invasion as of July 2006. The media largely buried the Lancet study when it was published - and have largely ignored the question of the overall death toll from the U.S. invasion - so it's little surprise that they have ignored our attempt to shine a light on this question.

The Lancet study is the only existing study that uses the method accepted all over the world for estimating deaths due to large-scale violent conflict: a cluster survey. Its principal deficit for understanding the current situation is that the survey it was based on is now a year old, so that when people want to invoke the Lancet study to describe the death toll, they are likely to say, "a year ago the death toll was over 600,000" - leaving out what has happened since. Since the Lancet study is "old news," it's progressively easier to ignore it over time. It was this problem that gave us the idea of constructing an ongoing, rough update.




baylaw73 (See profile | I'm a fan of baylaw73)

This is why we tend not to do this to white Christian people. People do not care. Honestly, most people I know just don't care about exactly how many people have been killed. Maybe they are numb. Maybe they are racist. I don't know. I find it hard to believe that not knowing the number, which is certainly over 100,000 (think about that for a while) is what is causing apathy in the anti-occupation crowd, or is causing the pro-war crowd to continue thier support. I firmly believe that most people in the U.S. simply cannot connect to the death of brown Muslims as they can with the deaths of say, coal miners or VT students. Very few, VERY few, have the courage and honesty to admit that the Bush administration unleashed, directly and indirectly, mass murder upon a nation that did not present a threat, for reasons that they never have and never will come clean about. It is simply too hard to accept.

[ellaydubya]

1. Why hate us?

We invade, we destroy the infrastructure, we kill a million (A MILLION HUMAN BEINGS!!!!!) and "displace" (what a nice word?) millions more. We as Americans, on a day-to-day basis, sacrifice nothing. And we allow it to continue......

What's in the world is wrong with us???

Are we just so involved trying to survive this crazy world we can't take the time, energy, and conviction to do something about it??? We are exactly where "they" want us!!!

[StClone]

2. In the movie "Mars Attacks"

The part where the Martians are mowing down Earthlings with gusto while declaring via loudspeakers "Don't run we are your friends!" comes to mind.

[kenny blankenship]

3. "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? It's not relevant"

So why should we waste our beautiful minds on something like that?

To paraphrase, only slightly, the President's mother speaking on Good Morning America.

[patrice]

4. My friends and I have been standing on street corners since Summer

of 2002 - every Sunday.

I have a pile of signs, but the one that I've been holding since about the first of this year, because it get's the most honks and/or thumbs up, waves, and peace signs says:

"Oil Royalty = Pilate
Bush Inc. = Herod
All Innocent Dead = Jesus
You = ?"

I like my signs to be about things that are important to people, hence the religious theme, but I was concerned at first that people would not get this one. They do. People take pictures of it and some park their cars and come up to talk.

You're right; there is a significant number of people who quite simply do not think about this issue at all, but it's not everyone.

[Buzz Clik]

5. The reason this story falls through the cracks is because it's difficult to comprehend.

The Lancet study is more than a reporting of people shot or blown up. It's an accounting of the increases in Iraqi deaths since the onset of the war. It's very difficult to wrap your brain around the idea that lack of available resources (like water and electricity) increases physical stress and takes a great toll on the vulnerable. Poor nutrition and poor medical care inevitably lead to higher death rates. It's particularly difficult to understand this when you're willfully ignorant.

These are hard concepts to digest, difficult to write, and they don't sell ads or newspapers.

When you think about it, it's not that hard to believe that 1 million Iraqis have died since the war who other would not have. That's less than 800 per day.

[Buzz Clik]

6. As a footnote: about iraqbodycount.org

The numbers they give are for violent deaths only. They make that abundantly clear on the front page of their website. Thus, the numbers from Lancet will be significantly higher.

[Mr. Ected]

7. Most of The War "Supporters" Haven't a Clue What They're Supporting

They only know that the President - a god-fearin' Republican - tells them that it's the right thing to do. Gives 'em a chance to wave their flags and whoop and holler "Go America!"

The Virginia Tech massacre wiped out over 30 innocent lives. The media was all over it for weeks on end.

But 30+ deaths in Iraq on any given day is not even newsworthy. Enough to make you want to vomit.

[NNN0LHI]

8. Yes they do know what they are supporting

They just play dumb. That doesn't work for me. They are accessories to murder in my mind. Every last one of them.

Don

[Richard Steele]

9. K&R

[superkia]

10. I dont think its racist, I think if it were on the news people would see it

and they would be outraged. I mean if you flood the American televisions with anything from an accused dog fighter and killer, an unjust war that is presented with lies or even trapped miners, our country does ban together and stand up sometimes but when something is hidden from us we just go about our business trying to pay the bills and take care of our families. And when I say hidden, I mean not on the television and we would have to actually put effort into searching for news which most will not. I dont think we are a horrible people, maybe just extremely naive?

[Supersedeas]

11. Nothing to see here -- feed them more pictures of the smiling chimp