As the Memorial Day weekend was comes to an end, I am at a loss in understanding why there is not greater notice given to the death of Iraqi soldiers and civilians. Consider the following:

IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS & OTHERS IN IRAQ
n Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of U.S. Army Troops: More than 180,000 in August 2007.
n Journalists killed: 127; 84 by murder and 43 by acts of war.
n Journalists killed by U.S. forces: 14.
n Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed: 8,257.
n Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated: A U.N.-issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian causalities have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian causalities at over 600,000.
n Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated: 55,000.
n Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed: 552.
n Non-Iraqi Kidnapped: 305, including 54 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 94 status unknown.
QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS
n Iraqis Displaced Inside Iraq, by Iraq War, as of May 2007: 2,255,000.
n Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan: 2.1 million to 2.25 million.
n Iraqi Unemployment Rate: 27 percent to 60 percent, where curfew not in effect.
n Consumer Price Inflation in 2006: 50 percent.
n Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition: 28 percent in June 2007. Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003: 40 percent.
n Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion: 34,000.
n Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion: 12,000.
n Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion: 2,000.
n Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity: 1 to 2 hours.
When asked in 2003 why Osama bin Laden and his followers hate Americans, President Bush answered, “They hate us because we love freedom. They hate us because we love and hold dear the idea that anybody can worship an almighty God in any way he or she sees fit. They hate the idea of a free press, free political discourse. That is what they hate. And so long as we love our freedoms, they will try to harm our country.”
In reviewing the above statistics, one can only conclude that they, that big, all encompassing “they,” now have only more reason to hate us, to devise future attacks of so-called terrorism. In moving from Afghanistan to Iraq, a nation that posed no clear, direct or immediate danger to the us before the U.S. invasion, the stakes for our own safety have grown astoundingly given the unchecked, immoral and terrorist war waged against the soldiers and civilians in Iraq.
I leave you with a quote from the Veterans Against the War in Iraq website vaiw.org. I ask you to read it with the same thoughtfulness and consideration that you would allow when memorializing any other life lost to an unnecessary war.
“Finally, we believe that a doctrine of pre-emptive and unilateral U.S. military attack on Iraq or any other nation is illegal, unnecessary, counter-productive and presents a truly dire and distressing threat to our vital international interests and basic national security. As military veterans, we have a unique understanding of war and know the many hidden truths that lie behind war’s easy theories and promises, as well as behind the tragic consequences that even, ‘victory’ brings. We therefore call on all like-minded veterans and family members to endorse this statement and support us in our efforts to help avert, mitigate or stop a national tragedy and an international calamity.”

Marlena Gangi