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Hush,
Hush on Coalition Deaths
by
Firas Al-Atraqchi
May
20, 2003
When
U.S. forces first rolled into the outskirts of Baghdad on April 6th, the number
of coalition fatalities stood at 126 -- 96 U.S. and 30 British. In the month
following the "liberation" of Baghdad, the eradication of Saddam's
Baath party, and the control of all Iraqi territory by the coalition and their
allies, that number jumped to 172 total fatalities. In the week since May 6th,
the number rose further to 186 -- 155 U.S. and 31 British deaths.
The
reports from military sources seem to cover all action/accidental deaths in
Iraq up to May 10th; the change in the total number reflects late reporting or
pending investigations into cause of death.
Some
reports, mentioned by CNN, seem to indicate bizarre accidents: "Killed
when he fell from a ladder, causing his M4 rifle to accidentally discharge on
May 3, 2003; killed April 17, 2003, in a Kuwait vehicle accident; killed on
April 28, 2003, when he was struck by a civilian vehicle."
The
rise in military fatalities has received scant attention in mainstream media.
During the war, newspapers and broadcast media would lead their coverage with
an update of the number of deaths, POWs, or Missing in Action. Since the
toppling of the Saddam statue on April 9th, however, there have been few
reports of military fatalities.
Troubling
signs emerging from Iraq may indicate why the media has strayed from reporting
the rising number of coalition casualties. Earlier this week, U.S. soldiers
were ordered to shoot looters who did not desist. Lawlessness and fear have so
gripped Baghdad that "the Third Infantry Division has been told to stop
sending troops home and to step up patrols, a move that reflects mounting
concerns within the Bush administration about security in Baghdad," the
New York Times reports.
Failure
to return the city to normal functions, restore power as the summer months
approach, and provide Iraqi citizens with the most basic necessities are
beginning to worry U.S. officials that they have grossly mismanaged and
underestimated the work required in Iraq. Some senior officials are beginning
to wonder if the United Nations may be needed after all.
The
failures in Baghdad led to the impromptu replacing of General Jay Garner and
Barbara Bodine, both administrators of post-war Iraq, with anti-terrorism
expert Paul Bremer. However, some U.S. senators have begun to question the pace
and skills of the U.S. as an occupying force in Iraq.
"I
remain genuinely concerned that we are in a situation where we have won the war
and we lose the battle," Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) said. Unless order
is restored, he warned later, "[t]here is a real chance that the victory
we claim is not a victory at all." (Washington Post, May 15)
Further
complicating U.S. efforts in Iraq is the pesky detail of weapons of mass
destruction, the very provision that launched the war. Despite hundreds of U.S.
teams scouring the Iraqi countryside and questioning and detaining hundreds of
Iraqi scientists and technicians, there is no evidence, as yet, that Iraq had
WMD or was intending to use them on U.S. forces.
U.S.
forces have started to pinpoint scapegoats for their apparent failures in Iraq.
In previous months, U.S. officials blamed Iran for inciting violence against
U.S. forces. Recently, the U.S. seems to have recanted that the Baath party was
eradicated and has now chosen to blame Baathist loyalists for acts of violence
and subterfuge. "There are still regime elements out there that are
actively, aggressively seeking to impede, discredit or disrupt coalition
operations," Army Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, commander of U.S. ground
forces in Iraq, said Wednesday. "They destroy infrastructure repairs made by
the coalition and the Iraqis." (Los Angeles Times, May 15)
The
victory in Iraq is beginning to ring hollow as the country slowly slips into
chaos.
Firas Al-Atraqchi, B.Sc
(Physics), M.A. (Journalism and Communications), is a Canadian journalist with
eleven years of experience covering Middle East issues, oil and gas markets,
and the telecom industry. He is a columnist for YellowTimes.org, where this article
first appeared. He can be reached at: firas6544@rogers.com