The Pentagon has kept a close tally of the number of U.S. military killed and wounded in Iraq Since the bombs first fell on Baghdad. But the number of Iraqi casualties remains a mystery. “We don’t count bodies,” General Tommy Franks said early in the conflict. But others do, and the accounts vary wildly.
Anywhere from 3,000 to 15,000 Iraqi civilians may have died so far. Behind each number is a life lost and a Iraqi mourned by a family member or neighbor. In the landscape of modern warfare, civilians are paying a higher price. The body count used to be a gauge of the winners and losers in warfare. But without accurate information, the numbers are open to interpretation.
Guests:
William Arkin, columnist for “The Los Angeles Times” and military analyst for NBC
Carl Conetta, project director, Project on Defense Alternatives at the Commonwealth Institute
Marla Ruzicka, founder of CIVIC (Campaign for Innocnet Victims in Conflict) researching collateral damage in Iraq
Brigadier General Mark Hertlin, deputy commander of the First Armoured Division of the U.S. Army, stationed in Iraq