[Peace-discussion] Times Union re:my letter to run corrections re number Iraqis killed

[John Walsh]

Great work.
Keep after them.
Best,
john walsh (MA delegate)

On 10/26/07, Dunleamark@aol.com <Dunleamark@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> The Albany Times Union has told me that they will write a correction or
> explanation of why the changed the number of Iraqis killed (from 1 millio=
n
> to 100,000) in my letter to the editor which they published today. They
> indicate they will be writing as to why they changed the estimate
>
> Below is the letter that they published today , which I had to shorten to
> 300 words at their request, which already forced me to drop several key
> points.
>
> Following that is my request for a correction as to the number of Iraqis
> killed.
>
> Mark
>
> -----------------
> U.S. must end its shameful occupation of Iraq
>
> First published: Friday, October 26, 2007
>
> It is time to withdraw our troops from the killing fields of Iraq.
>
> The U.S. invasion of Iraq has killed as many as a 100,000 or more civilia=
ns
> and turned many more into refugees. Those who remain largely lack the
> resources to flee. They suffer incredible deprivation as death stalks the=
m,
> lacking basic necessities such as food, electricity and medicine.
>
> Some defend continuing the occupation on the grounds that withdrawal woul=
d
> escalate the raging civil war. Yet this civil war is the United States'
> creation -- and increasingly we arm both sides. Before the invasion, if y=
ou
> had asked residents if they were a Sunni or Shiite, they would have said
> they were an Iraqi.
>
> It is as if Iraqi reporters descended upon Times Square and demanded to k=
now
> whether local residents were Presbyterians or Baptists rather than
> Americans. The U.S. has stoked sectarian conflict from the start.
>
> It is important that we withdraw all the troops. The Bush administration =
and
> Congress had two principal goals for the invasion: taking control of the
> Iraqi oil supplies and creating permanent American military bases from wh=
ich
> to dominate the Middle East. Democrats from Gillibrand to Clinton continu=
e
> to support permanent bases.
>
>
> The U.S. occupation of Iraq will go down as one of the most shameful
> episodes of our history. In addition to the killing of so many civilians,=
 we
> have allowed unbridled corruption by military contractors, widely used
> torture and employed an out-of-control massive mercenary army (i.e., priv=
ate
> contractors) that kills at will. Meanwhile we have demoralized our own
> soldiers, turning them into shooting targets in a senseless war.
>
>
> Americans gave Democrats control of Congress to end the war, but they
> continue to rationalize its continuation. It is time to put an end to the
> misery being inflicted in our name.
>
> MARK DUNLEA
> Poestenkill
>
>
> -------------------
>
>
> This morning the Times Union published a letter from me about Iraq. The
> Times Union changed a key statement in the letter without my permission o=
r
> knowledge.
>
> I would appreciate a correction. If you (the Times Union) wish to take a
> different position, that is fine, but you should make it clear that is th=
e
> Times Union's words, not mine. I thought that letters to the editor
> represent the viewpoint of the author, not the Times Union.
>
> I was asked to cut my letter to 300 words. After doing so, here is the
> paragraph you changed.
>
> "The US invasion of Iraq has killed as many as a million civilians and
> turned several million more into refugees. Those who remain largely lack =
the
> resources to flee. They suffer incredible deprivation as death stalks the=
m,
> lacking basic necessities such as food, electricity and medicine."
>
> What you (the Times Union) wrote instead was:
>
>
>  The U.S. invasion of Iraq has killed as many as a 100,000 or more civili=
ans
> and turned many more into refugees.
>
> As you may know, I host a weekly public affairs radio show on WRPI. I was
> prompted to write this letter after interviewing reporter Dahr Jamal prio=
r
> to his recent talk in Troy at the Sanctuary for Independent Media. Dahr h=
as
> spent considerable time in Iraq. More recently he has spent time with the
> refugees from Iraq. Much of our 25 minute interview was about the million=
s
> of refugees.
>
> I had recently read several reports about the number of people killed in
> Iraq. Before submitting the article, I did research on the number. While
> this number is highly debated, several reports have put the number over o=
ne
> million. One such report with a million figure first published in the LA
> Times is below. I have seen estimates as high as 1.4 million.
>
> Another leading study - paid for by MIT, overseen by John Hopkins, and
> published in Lancet, the British Medical Journal (see Washington Post
> article below) was based on calculating excess deaths in Iraq. More than =
a
> year ago they put the number of deaths at 650,000. (This was a range, so =
the
> top range was higher and this of course was a year ago.) I have assumed t=
hat
> this was somewhat of an undercount since I assumed that their baseline
> years included deaths occurring from previous conflicts (Iran-Iraq war, t=
he
> first Gulf War, and the decades long economic blockade).
>
> Yesterday on my radio show, I interviewed Kathy Kelly, who was nominated =
for
> the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Iraq. She will be speaking in the
> Capital District from Nov. 1 to 3, including her visits this summer with
> refugees from Iraq. Since I had just researched for the letter the number=
 of
> Iraqis killed, I decided to  ask her what the numbers were. She ran throu=
gh
> the various estimates, starting with the low numbers and then working up =
to
> the one million plus number, which she agreed was reasonable. One very la=
rge
> number she cited - which I don't remember but was perhaps in the 50,000
> range - was the official report from Iraq of just the number of children
> last year who failed to reach their 5th birthday (i.e., they were dead). =
She
> pointed out that this was of course just for one year of a multi-year war=
.
> It is estimated that about 500,000 Iraqi children were killed due to the =
US
> economic blockade before the invasion (about 40,000 children a year.)
>
> I also didn't know that the refugee issue was a point of dispute with the
> Times Union. Dahr put the number of refugees at 3 million. The article be=
low
> in a British paper cites the UN as stating there are 4.2 million refugees
> (though this includes about 2 million still within Iraq, which might acco=
unt
> for Dahr's different number.) The UN has apparently cited the Iraq refuge=
e
> crisis as the biggest in the world at this point
>
> I look forward to the correction.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Mark Dunlea
> 518 434-7371 xt 1# - w
> 518 283-6512 - h
>
>
> Published on Friday, September 14, 2007 by the Los Angeles Times
> Poll: Civilian Death Toll in Iraq May Top 1 Million
> A British survey offers the highest estimate to date. At least 4 die in a
> Sadr City car bombing.
>
> by Tina Susman
>
>
> BAGHDAD - A car bomb blew up in the capital's Shiite Muslim neighborhood =
of
> Sadr City on Thursday, killing at least four people, as a new survey
> suggested that the civilian death toll from the war could be more than 1
> million.
>
> The figure from ORB, a British polling agency that has conducted several
> surveys in Iraq, followed statements this week from the U.S. military
> defending itself against accusations it was trying to play down Iraqi dea=
ths
> to make its strategy appear successful.
>
> The military has said civilian deaths from sectarian violence have fallen
> more than 55% since President Bush sent an additional 28,500 troops to Ir=
aq
> this year, but it does not provide specific numbers.
>
> According to the ORB poll, a survey of 1,461 adults suggested that the to=
tal
> number slain during more than four years of war was more than 1.2 million=
.
>
> ORB said it drew its conclusion from responses to the question about thos=
e
> living under one roof: "How many members of your household, if any, have
> died as a result of the conflict in Iraq since 2003?"
>
> Based on Iraq's estimated number of households =97 4,050,597 =97 it said =
the 1.2
> million figure was reasonable.
>
> There was no way to verify the number, because the government does not
> provide a full count of civilian deaths. Neither does the U.S. military.
>
> Both, however, say that independent organizations greatly exaggerate
> estimates of civilian casualties.
>
> ORB said its poll had a margin of error of 2.4%. According to its finding=
s,
> nearly one in two households in Baghdad had lost at least one member to w=
ar-
> related violence, and 22% of households nationwide had suffered at least =
one
> death. It said 48% of the victims were shot to death and 20% died as a
> result of car bombs, with other explosions and military bombardments blam=
ed
> for most of the other fatalities.
>
> The survey was conducted last month.
>
> It was the highest estimate given so far of civilian deaths in Iraq. Last
> year, a study in the medical journal Lancet put the number at 654,965, wh=
ich
> Iraq's government has dismissed as "ridiculous."
>
> ---------------------------
> Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000
>
>
>
> By David Brown
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101=
001442.html
>
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Wednesday, October 11, 2006; Page A12
>
>
>
>
> A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more
> people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 tha=
n
> would have died if the invasion had not occurred.
>
> The estimate, produced by interviewing residents during a random sampling=
 of
> households throughout the country, is far higher than ones produced by ot=
her
> groups, including Iraq's government.
>
>
>
> A man mourns his son Friday in Baqubah, a city north of Baghdad. The chil=
d
> died in random gunfire near a family home in the village of Khan Bani Saa=
d.
> (By Mohammed Adnan -- Associated Press)
>
>
>
>
> It is more than 20 times the estimate of 30,000 civilian deaths that
> President Bush gave in a speech in December. It is more than 10 times the
> estimate of roughly 50,000 civilian deaths made by the British-based Iraq
> Body Count research group.
>
> The surveyors said they found a steady increase in mortality since the
> invasion, with a steeper rise in the last year that appears to reflect a
> worsening of violence as reported by the U.S. military, the news media an=
d
> civilian groups. In the year ending in June, the team calculated Iraq's
> mortality rate to be roughly four times what it was the year before the w=
ar.
>
> Of the total 655,000 estimated "excess deaths," 601,000 resulted from
> violence and the rest from disease and other causes, according to the stu=
dy.
> This is about 500 unexpected violent deaths per day throughout the countr=
y.
>
> The survey was done by Iraqi physicians and overseen by epidemiologists a=
t
> Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. The finding=
s
> are being published online today by the British medical journal the Lance=
t.
>
> The same group in 2004 published an estimate of roughly 100,000 deaths in
> the first 18 months after the invasion. That figure was much higher than
> expected, and was controversial. The new study estimates that about 500,0=
00
> more Iraqis, both civilian and military, have died since then -- a findin=
g
> likely to be equally controversial.
>
> Both this and the earlier study are the only ones to estimate mortality i=
n
> Iraq using scientific methods. The technique, called "cluster sampling," =
is
> used to estimate mortality in famines and after natural disasters.
>
> While acknowledging that the estimate is large, the researchers believe i=
t
> is sound for numerous reasons. The recent survey got the same estimate fo=
r
> immediate post-invasion deaths as the early survey, which gives the
> researchers confidence in the methods. The great majority of deaths were
> also substantiated by death certificates.
>
> "We're very confident with the results," said Gilbert Burnham, a Johns
> Hopkins physician and epidemiologist.
>
> article then continues, last paragraph is
>
> The survey cost about $50,000 and was paid for by Massachusetts Institute=
 of
> Technology's Center for International Studies.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2640418.ece
>
> UN warns of five million Iraqi refugees
> Half of displaced people have no access to food aid
> By Patrick Cockburn
> Published: 10 June 2007
>
>
>
>
>
> Omar, a Sunni driver, lived in a pleasant house in a Shia neighbourhood o=
f
> al-Jihad district in west Baghdad until he decided that it was too danger=
ous
> for his family to stay.
>
> He moved with them to Damascus, but it was too expensive and he had no
> chance of getting a job.
>
> He returned to his home in al-Jihad, but when he arrived his neighbours s=
aid
> that the Mahdi Army Shia militia had left a message for him. It said that=
 if
> he ever re-occupied the house, they would kill him.
>
> Omar moved to the supposedly safer Sunni district of al-Khadra, but now h=
e
> faces another problem. Al-Qa'ida insurgents are demanding that he join th=
em
> on nightly patrols.
>
> First they asked him politely to meet their emir or local leader. Later,
> when he failed to do so, they became more menacing.
>
> They said: "Either you come with us or you will have to leave here. We
> suspect that you are not a Sunni, because a real Sunni would not hesitate=
 to
> join the jihad."
>
> Across Iraq, millions of people are looking for safer places to live, and
> not finding them. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
> reported last week that 4.2 million Iraqis have been forced out of their
> homes.
>
> There are also ominous signs that the four-month-old US security plan for
> Baghdad is failing to reduce the level of violence despite an extra 17,00=
0
> US troops in the capital.
>
> "The situation in Iraq continues to worsen," the UNHCR announced, "with m=
ore
> than two million Iraqis now believed to be displaced inside the country a=
nd
> another 2.2 million sheltering in neighbouring states."
>
> The Iraqi refugee crisis is now surpassing in numbers anything ever seen =
in
> the Middle East, including the expulsion or flight of the Palestinians in
> 1948.
>
> Since the sectarian pogroms that followed the destruction of the Shia shr=
ine
> in Samarra in February 2006, an estimated 850,000 people have been displa=
ced
> within Iraq, including 15,000 Palestinians who have nowhere to go.
>
> "Individual governorates inside Iraq are becoming overwhelmed by the need=
s
> of the displaced," said an UNHCR spokesperson, Jennifer Pagonis. "At leas=
t
> 10 out of 18 governorates have closed their borders, or are denying acces=
s
> to new arrivals."
>
> As a result, many refugees are taking refuge in shanty towns, and almost
> half of them are not receiving the state-subsidised rations that enable m=
ost
> Iraqis to feed themselves.
>
> The UN Assistance Mission to Iraq and the World Food Programme estimate t=
hat
> "at least 47 per cent of the displaced have no access to official food
> distribution channels".
>
> The number of Iraqis taking refuge in other countries continues to climb,
> with 1.4 million in Syria, 750,000 in Jordan, 80,000 in Egypt and 200,000=
 in
> the Gulf region.
>
> Syria alone is receiving 30,000 Iraqis a month. The arrival of so many ex=
tra
> people in Damascus has led to a steep rise in the price of food.
>
> The exodus is not likely to end. The arrival of extra American troops in
> Baghdad, the so-called "surge", which started on 14 February, led to a br=
ief
> decline in the number of sectarian killings, but these are once again on =
the
> rise.
>
> Some 736 bodies were found dumped in the streets of Baghdad in May, which
> exceeds the number found in January prior to the new security plan. So fa=
r
> in June 206 bodies have been found. Most are the victims of sectarian
> killings.
>
> American control of Baghdad remains very limited, with one divisional sur=
vey
> finding that US and Iraqi government forces control only 146 out of 457
> neighbourhoods. US and government authority is even more limited in the
> towns around the capital.
>
> Most of the killings are concentrated in west Baghdad, where many distric=
ts
> are contested between Sunni and Shia, while east Baghdad is very largely
> controlled by the Shia.
>
> What some Iraqi politicians call "the battle for Baghdad", effectively a
> sectarian civil war, has been largely won by the Shia who, going by elect=
ion
> results, make up three quarters of the capital's population.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
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