The Associated Press conducted a poll asking Americans how many Iraqis have died since the invasion in 2003. The median answer given was 9,890. The Americans polled knew the amount of Americans killed, but they lowballed the Iraqi dead by tens of thousands, and that is only by the most conservative of death tolls.
One such toll that has been completely ignored by the mainstream media is one taken by an independent polling agency ORB. ORB is no ultra-left wing research center, it is a trusted credible organization that often works for the conservative wings of the British Government.
They found that around one million Iraqis have been killed. One million. This is a high-end estimate, though just because it is the highest estimate that does not mean it can be dismissed.
Other estimates range from 100,000 to 900,000. Even if this ORB poll is flawed in some way, the fact that the media completely ignored it sickens me.
What if the number is around one million? I hope it isn't, but what if it is? What if our nation, and our nation alone is completely responsible for the slaughter of one million Iraqi citizens?
That no one even talks about Iraqi dead is a crime in itself. All Americans can tell you is how many Americans have died. The number stands at just over four thousand. This is more than the amount killed on September Eleventh 2001.
Yet, we all know the American casualties. The ratio of American deaths to Iraqi deaths, at the high end, is 1 to 200.
One American equals two hundred Iraqis.
How does this make sense to anyone? Have we really become this desensitized to non-American deaths? We have always viewed American deaths as the most important, even in history class. We are taught to believe we are the greatest heroes of world war two, even though the amount we sacrificed to win that war was 418,500. This is a huge amount, though, not as many as the Iraqi War dead estimate by both the ORB poll and the Lancet poll. That was also, at the time, about .32% of our nations population. The nation with the greatest sacrifice to defeat Nazi Germany? The Soviet Union. They suffered a total of 23,100,000 casualties. 13.71% of their population. This is not something we are taught. The Soviet Union was evil, to be sure, but the citizens who died were not.
The were human beings, just like Americans, Germans, and the Japanese. All our lives are equal. American exceptionalism haves you believe we are always the good guys, and that our soldiers are the most heroic.
That our soldiers cause is true, and the cause of the enemy is evil and wrong. A lie.
One million dead, because of us, because of our infallible virtue.
Though, this does not compare to the forgotten genocide of the Native Americans in the country.
We are all human. America has examples of the greatest human triumphs and the greatest evils committed. We are not exceptional. We are the same as all.
I will expand upon this all in my next post, which will be a defense of pacifism.
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7 comments:
Hmmmm. Uncle Sam wants YOU (dead)*Pointing Finger*
You bring up some very good and very interesting points. I agree that we shouldn't just dismiss the Iraqi deaths, and I believe that every human life has value. Our country is certainly not flawless - you gave the Native American example and could have also given the abortion example - but I also think the "natural" thing to do is focus mostly on our own losses. Is this the right approach?
Human life is invaluable, and all human death is a tragedy. To me, however, death is not the ultimate soul-ending finale. Rather, I see it as just the very beginning.
I wouldn't have any real regrets about taking a life or being killed on a battlefield for my country because I don't see it as the "end" per se.
I think a lot of soldiers (and people in general for that matter) place an irrationally high value on their Earthly lives because they view it as the only thing there is. This robs us, in a sense, of enjoying the heroic aspects of war.
I would imagine myself, for example, simultaneously shooting an enemy soldier and being shot by him. We both die. I wouldn't hold any ill-will against him, because life is so utterly short and insignificant in the Grand Scheme of things. I would even imagine he and I having a good laugh about the whole ordeal in heaven.
All the pain and grief of this life is nothing but a flash...a fleeting string of sensations. Regardless of your philosophical or religious beliefs.
I apologize for the tangent.
I wish I shared your belief in an afterlife. I sure hope there is one. Perhaps one that isn't as exclusive as the one I used to believe in.
I view all of the pain and grief as all some will know. I don't believe anyone will find an eternal redemption in heaven. Just eternal peace.
"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt"
What can I say? I think Matt has raised a very intriguing point...religion makes it a lot easier to fight wars. Now, from last time out, please remember that I said I like religion before anyone says I am bashing it.
Religion does place a relatively low value on Earthly life. I believe that few religious people would dispute this point, for it is a basic tenet of religion. I just find it interesting how people think less harshly about war since they take killing less seriously, due to religious beliefs.
I believe that war's heroic aspects should be minimized. Most of war, and the fighting of war, is not heroic, nor should it be. It is a necessary burden; repeat, I am not a pacifist, I believe in a concept of just war; but I do believe that war should generally be avoided. If we needlessly glorify the pursuit of war, we only serve to encourage its start. Much of war, even a necessary war, is a tragedy.
War is a defeat for humanity.
- Pope John Paul II
That is all I want to say right now.
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