Help me out here. I’m trying to remember, trying to understand; why did we just beat up Iraq?

Was it a continuation of the “war on terrorism”? Was it to remove “weapons of mass destruction”? Was it to remove a dictator and create democracy? Thanks to Jeanne D’Arc at Body and Soul for pointing to this article at the Christian Science Monitor. According to that article there is increasing evidence that “between 5,000 and 10,000 Iraqi civilians may have died during the recent war, according to researchers involved in independent surveys of the country."

That would make the “Iraq war” “the deadliest campaign for noncombatants that US forces have fought since Vietnam.” It also puts civilian casualties far beyond the 3,500 that died in the first Gulf war. Of course this number doesn’t include the many people that are likely to die because people’s needs are not being met after the war. Hospitals are not even close to being stabilized nor are food needs being met. What about the radioactive wastes left behind? Just as with the first Gulf War, tons of depleted uranium bullets now liter the Iraq landscape.

Some might argue that it’s American-based multinationals that stand to benefit. Call me crazy but I think that may have been the plan all along.

For a continuing discussion check out salon.com has set up a new blog, Iraq Democracy Watch.

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