Iraq Body Count is a website that has maintained the most thorough list of civilian casualties from the Iraq War. According to Jonathan Steele, writing in The Guardian, IBC "is widely considered as the most reliable database of Iraqi civilian deaths.” It has been featured in the Chilcot report, and other official government websites. But, there is much to the war that most people don’t know about:
The US began softening-up strikes in 2002, well before the official entry into the war.
A chilling story of how the US attacked a hospital in 2004 for reporting Morgue Deaths
The Al-Jazeera bombings and the US bombing of a Reuter’s desk in Baghdad
Within the first few weeks, they had recorded over 7,500 civilian deaths with more devastation coming
Violence as Communication - Fallujah
Perhaps no city has been hit as hard as Fallujah, Iraq. After the shock and awe campaign that led to the capture of Baghdad, the city of Fallujah had already established its own local government and security forces. There was no need for US forces to be there because they had not met with resistance at all. But, on April 23, 2003, the 82nd Airborne Division occupied the city.
As a result, on April 28 2003, children and parents were marching in protests towards a school. US troops indiscriminately shot them. With that memory still present in amongst the people of Fallujah, on March 31, 2004, four Blackwater mercenaries were killed on a bridge with their bodies mutilated in brutal way. Unfortunately, most of the western media chose to portray them as innocent victims, instead victims of revenge.
The US authorities took this as a challenge to their dominance. Then in late 2004, they began a campaign to conquer Fallujah which was filled with unbelievable atrocities.
According to the Boston Globe:
Under the plans, troops would funnel Fallujans to so-called citizen processing centers on the outskirts of the city to compile a database of their identities through DNA testing and retina scans. Residents would receive badges displaying their home addresses that they must wear at all times. Buses would ferry them into the city, where cars, the deadliest tool of suicide bombers, would be banned.
As well as being conscripted for forced labor:
One idea that has stirred debate among Marine officers would require all men to work, for pay, in military-style battalions. Depending on their skills, they would be assigned jobs in construction, waterworks, or rubble-clearing platoon
Later on, white phosphorous would be used in Fallujah.
In part 1 of our series, we discuss the Iraq war, the implications of the casualties and also we try to form a memorial for the people who lost their lives. We also talk about the digital memory project for the Iraq war.
Iraq Body Count is available on Twitter.
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The Casualties of War - Part 1 with Hamit Dardagan