Count All the Dead

Dahlia Wasfi, M.D., Denver, Colorado, USA

In the spirit that all lives are of an immeasurable value, I am requesting that we discontinue the use of separate counts for dead Iraqis, Americans, and members of the "Coalition of the Willing." 2500 Iraqis were dead withing the first few hours of the start of "Shock and Awe," and the crime they committed which warranted the penalty of death was that they were born Iraqi. More than 90% of the casualties of war since WWII are civilians--unarmed people--and one-third of that 90% are children. Unlike American soldiers, they never volunteered to pick up a gun and learn to kill. At this point, however, we've given Iraqis every reason to do just that. Many of the U.S. dead are victims, too, but let's not glorify their status as warriors. Every one of them was likely just following orders, but the Nuremburg trials determined 60 years ago that such an excuse was inadequate...

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