Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Arena Magazine

The new killing fields: human catastrophe looms in Iraq: the human cost, the myths of war, the road to hell, and the left and anti-imperialism--a three-way exchange. (on the eve of war).

Article Excerpt
At the time of writing, Iraq teeters on the precipice of war and human catastrophe. A report on the probable consequences of war, released in Britain by Medact (the British affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) has predicted dire consequences for the Iraqi people in the event of any conflict aimed at the overthrow of the Iraqi government. Between 48,000 and 260,000 casualties are expected in the event of war, while additional deaths from post-war adverse health effects could reach 200,000. Other consequences would be wide-ranging, including `civil war, famine and epidemics, millions of refugees and displaced people, catastrophic effects on children's health and development, economic collapse, including failure of agriculture and manufacturing, and a requirement for long-term peacekeeping'.

In light of the enormous human suffering already confirmed in the aftermath of the first US-Iraqi Gulf War, such a prognosis should hardly come as a surprise.

The last Gulf War: counting the cost

According to Medact, drawing upon UN and other sources, Iraqi military deaths during the first US-Iraqi Gulf War ranged somewhere between 50,000 and 120,000. Civilian deaths are estimated at somewhere between 3,000 and 15,000. An estimated 300,000 Iraqis were wounded during the initial conflict, many of whom were later to die. Others were `merely' consigned to a life of pain and misery: deafened, paralysed, with missing limbs, and suffering emotional trauma that will never heal.

Although the Pentagon would doubtless prefer us to forget, Iraqi survivors will live with the horror of the war for the rest of their lives. Hundreds of Iraqi conscripts--perhaps more--were literally buried alive during the US-led assault on their positions. One can only imagine the horror for these barely trained, terrified young men, near-deaf from weeks of constant bombardment, nerves shattered beyond repair, as combat earth-movers outflanked their positions, proceeding to bury them alive.

Then there are reports from survivors of the final US air assault on retreating Iraqi armoured columns, bombed even after the declaration of a ceasefire. Disregarding Geneva Convention provisions regarding `denial of quarter', tens of thousands of vehicles were destroyed by US jets during the Iraqi retreat from Kuwait. Taken by surprise, they would have scrambled from their tanks to watch their countrymen incinerated along the roadside. Approximately 1,000 Iraqis died in this phase of the conflict.

It is also important to remember the destruction of...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!