One game of the Left is to further their agenda with a lie based on an inflated number. The rationale for the number can be an extrapolation of some isolated facts or mere whim.
The number of 1.2 million casualties in Iraq is typical. The inflated number is ludicrous in view of the nature of the warfare. During World War II, many cities were targets of saturation bombing. Despite the claims of accuracy for the Norden bombsight, many bombs fell far from their targets. The incendiary bombing of Dresden produced a terrible number of casualties. During the overtly military phase of the Iraq conflict, there was no saturation bombing with vast numbers of civilian casualties. Disruption of Saddam’s command and control structure effectively decapitated his military. There were no great battles with high casualties on both sides. Precision-guided bombs and cruise missiles limited collateral damage.
The pre-war sanctions against Iraq were blamed for many earlier civilian deaths but the diversion of funds for food and medicine to the purchase of scotch whiskey for the Republican Guard may have been a contributory factor. Such deaths have the nature of self-inflicted wounds.
So where is that pile of bodies hidden?
A similar ‘big lie’ was perpetrated by the Left in their campaign for unilateral victim disarmament. It concerned the number of ‘children’ killed with guns in the United States. The backdrop for the well-crafted (but fraudulent) televised ad was a toddler managing to use a chair to get to a closet shelf and get daddy’s .45 with the obvious tragic result. The implication was that toddlers were being killed at the death rate cited. However, the definition of ‘children’ used as the basis for the number included anyone not of his or her age of majority. The ‘victims’ were mostly thugs engaged with battles among themselves and with police or victims. The campaign was based on lies and distortions.
The number of 1.2 million casualties in Iraq is typical. The inflated number is ludicrous in view of the nature of the warfare.
“The Hanoi government revealed on April 4 that the true civilian casualties of the Vietnam War were 2,000,000 in the north, and 2,000,000 in the south. Military casualties were 1.1 million killed and 600,000 wounded in 21 years of war. These figures were deliberately falsified during the war by the North Vietnamese Communists to avoid demoralizing the population. […]
Note: Given a Vietnamese population of approximately 38 million during the period 1954-1975, Vietnamese casualties represent a good 12-13% of the entire population. â€
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September 2007 – More than 1,000,000 Iraqis murdered:
“In the week in which General Patraeus reports back to US Congress on the impact the recent ‘surge’ is having in Iraq, a new poll reveals that more than 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have been murdered since the invasion took place in 2003.
Previous estimates, most noticeably the one published in the Lancet in October 2006, suggested almost half this number (654,965 deaths).
These findings come from a poll released today by ORB, the British polling agency that has been tracking public opinion in Iraq since 2005. In conjunction with their Iraqi fieldwork agency […]
Given that from the 2005 census there are a total of 4,050,597 households this data suggests a total of 1,220,580 deaths since the invasion in 2003. Calculating the affect from the margin of error we believe that the range is a minimum of 733,158 to a maximum of 1,446,063″
wow, that is a stunning observation. Here I thought that the only party to further their agenda by spewing confusing numbers were the Rethuglicans.
it’s amazing when you think about how off base you are.
I remember just last week I was counting sectarian killing in Iraq and a general told me that the guy had a gun shot wound to the side of his head it meant it was only a murder and not a sectarian killing.
had that wound come from the back of that poor bastards then, well that would have been counted.
but you are right, the Lefties play with the numbers to further their agenda.
pathetic.
stop by our site more often if you want to get schooled by some “lefties”
Again, professional statisticians get “discredited” by Republicans. As if their uneducated opinion is worthy of respect. Because they can’t see the bodies…sigh. Gee, who has more credibility? A right winger who wants to believe the war was a good thing, or a professional statistician?