Box Score for the War
The military is reluctant to release comprehensive numbers of troops and
civilians killed and wounded in Iraq. Here's our count
-snip-
150,000. The estimated number of all coalition forces in Iraq, of which
about 124,000 are Americans and 26,000 are others. A total of 35 countries
contributes forces, but most number less than 1,000. Some, like Mongolia,
are in the low two digits. Only the British, with about 11,000 troops, have
a significant force.
20,000. The number of U.S. troops who are being told this week that they'll
have to stay in Iraq another 90 days, even though they've completed their
one-year "boots on the ground" deployment.
8,875 to 10,725. The minimum and maximum estimates of the number of Iraqi
civilians killed in Iraq so far, according to IraqBodyCount.org, an
organization of British and American academics. Other groups have even
higher estimates.
3,466. The total of American soldiers wounded in action in Iraq through
April 17, 2004, according to the Pentagon. There's a lot of controversy
about these figures, which do not include many minor wounds, although they
do include some soldiers who are wounded and returned to duty. Other
estimates of wounded American soldiers range as high as 15,000.
793. Total coalition soldiers killed in Iraq since the war began, according
to the U.S. Army's Central Command, as of April 17, 2004. Of those, 579 were
killed in action. 690 of the dead are American soldiers of which 501 are
officially listed as KIA or hostile action. Besides the Americans, soldiers
from El Salvador, Thailand, Spain, Italy, Britain, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia,
Denmark and Bulgaria have lost their lives.
600. The number of people killed during the current siege of Fallujah,
according to hospital officials there. They're estimating though, since many
dead are not brought to the hospital but buried immediately according to
Islamic traditions. Most of them are civilians, and the majority women and
children, according to these officials, whose accounts are impossible to
verify since no independent journalists have been able to visit Fallujah.
600. The number of people killed during the current siege of Falluja,
according to spokesmen for the Marines' First Division besieging that city,
who say that 95 percent of the victims are military-age men, and the others
are human shields used by the resistance there. Again, a number that is
impossible to verify. "That just proves that the Marines are very good at
what they do," one official said.
110. The number of coalition soldiers killed in November 2003, which has so
far been the war's worst month. But those numbers were ratcheted up by four
helicopter crashes, as a result of ground fire from insurgents, one of which
alone killed 17 soldiers. In quiet times, an average of two American
soldiers are killed every day in Iraq, so April will almost certainly top
November-even if the current ceasefires in Fallujah and Najaf, troubled as
they are, continue to hold.
92. The number of coalition soldiers (65 Americans and 27 Brits) killed in
March 2003. That was a short month; the war began only on March 21, but a
huge invasion-force was charging through enemy lines. It wasn't supposed to
get any worse than that.
91. The number of coalition soldiers killed in April 2004, making this the
third deadliest month in the war so far for the coalition and the second
deadliest for the Americans. And it's only half over. Eighty-nine of the
dead were Americans, all killed in action.
58. The number of foreigners taken prisoner in Iraq since April 8, when the
current wave of hostage-takings began. Some of them may be dead, others have
been released; a few may be soldiers who were taken prisoner. They represent
18 nationalities.
41. The number of hostages in Iraq released since April 8, leaving 16 still
being held or unaccounted for. Most of those released were from countries,
like France and Russia, who were not members of the coalition. But it's an
indication of the varied nature of the resistance that some coalition
nationalities, including South Koreans, Brits and even Americans, have been
taken and then released.
22. The number of foreign civilians killed in Iraq since the beginning of
March, 2004, through April 17, 2004. There were previous killings of
foreigners too, but only a relative handful; no good figures are available.
20, 70, 50. The numbers of daily resistance attacks against coalition forces
in Iraq a month ago, a week ago, and on April 17 respectively, according to
confidential security reports from the Coalition Provisional Authority.
5.35. The average number of coalition soldiers killed daily in April 2004.
Uninflated by any single large incident, this average reflects the greatly
increased tempo of the fighting and of attacks on U.S. troops over a broad
area, not just in Fallujah, but also in Mosul, Ramadi, Baquba, Samarra, and
elsewhere. By comparison, 3.67 troops died daily in November, and 7.67 a day
in the eleven days of March, 2003.
1. The number of hostages known to be murdered, of American POWs seized and
of civilians working for the coalition held hostage. The murdered hostage
was an Italian security guard named Fabrizio Quattrocchi; his grisly death
was recorded on a videotape delivered to al Jazeera. He reportedly removed
the hood his executioners put over his head and shouted, "I'll show you how
an Italian dies." In addition, one American soldier, Army Private Matthew
Maupin, was videotaped in captivity; his captors said they were treating him
as a POW according to Islamic traditions. Finally, a truck driver for
Kellogg, Brown and Root, who had been delivering military supplies, was also
shown on resistance videos and news footage being held captive. Six other
truck drivers and two soldiers are also unaccounted for from the ambush that
hit his convoy, just outside of Baghdad. "Hamill, Thomas," he said, when
asked his name. It was a reminder that these are all more than just numbers.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4766574/
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"That they deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true.
We were taken for a ride," Kwasniewski said Thursday (March 18, 2004).
Aleksander Kwasniewski, Poland's President
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20040318/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_poland_weapons_040318151606&e=4
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