Iraq war civilian casualties

While people are still debating the real reason for the Iraq war the casualty numbers for soldiers and civilians keep climbing. According to Just Foreign Policy, more than 1.3 million Iraqis have died since the military invasion of Iraq was launched in March 2003. According to AntiWar, the Iraq war has caused an estimated 100,000 US soldiers wounded and more than 4,000 killed in action. 

The human cost of the wars in Iraq is tremendous. It is estimated that 100, 000 Iraqi soldiers were killed during the first 100 hours of the Gulf War in 1991.  During the Iran-Iraq war 1980 – 1988, one of the biggest conflicts of the 20th century, more than a million people lost their lives.

The reason for war is not always clear. The weapons of mass destruction were never found in Iraq. Perhaps the cause of the wars in Iraq was the greed for oil, as also tactfully explained by Robert Newman in History of Oil. Perhaps it was Sadam Hussein’s attempt to debase the US dollar as the reserve currency for oil, as explained by William Clark and discussed on Energy Bulletin. Or retaliation for 9/11. Or all of the above.

Two sides to a war

Whatever the reasons for war, the picture is never pretty. The video, titled Collateral Murder, released by WikiLeaks, showing innocent civilians being mowed down by a US military helicopter in 2007 resulted in an international outcry. It makes one realize that bullets are cheap but lives are not.

Falling man

If you view the above video with the same distaste as the video documentary of the 9/11 Falling Man – video linked from the picture – and videos of beheadings you’ll possibly agree that there are two sides to war. Neither are right.

There are two sides to war. Neither are right.