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Posted by Jas on 03/26/07 00:54
more:
BC News is marking the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War this week by
reporting on its major survey of Iraqi public opinion. But when it comes to
one fundamental tally of the cost of the war-the number of Iraqis who have
been killed by the war-top ABC anchors are minimizing the death toll.
On the Sunday morning show This Week (3/18/07), George Stephanopoulos
reported: "More than 3,200 U.S. military dead. At least 24,000 wounded.
About 60,000 Iraqis killed." The next day on Good Morning America, his ABC
colleague Diane Sawyer mentioned almost the same figures: "3,218 U.S.
military fatalities and 24,042 U.S. wounded, not to mention the some 60,000
Iraqis who have been killed."
No source was given for the 60,000 figure by either anchor. The figure
resembles the totals for Iraqi civilian deaths reported in English-language
news reports by the Iraqi Body Count (IBC) project: between 59,326 and
65,160. (George W. Bush also appeared to rely on IBC's figures when asked in
December 2005 how many Iraqis had been killed in the war; he gave the number
of 30,000, which was close to IBC's tally at the time.)
Using IBC's count as an estimate of how many Iraqis have died in the war is
sloppy reporting, however. For one thing, it is explicitly a count of
*civilian* deaths, ignoring Iraqi combatants who died either resisting the
U.S. invasion and occupation or defending the U.S.-backed government.
Estimates for the number of Iraqi combatants killed in the initial invasion
range from 7,600-10,800 (Project on Defense Alternatives, 10/20/03) to
13,500-45,000 (London Guardian, 5/28/03); the total of Iraqis killed
fighting the U.S. has surely increased substantially in the four years that
followed.
As for Iraqi forces allied with the U.S., the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
website has counted 6,301 deaths of Iraqi police and military, based on news
reports, up to March 20, 2007. It's striking that even these allied
deaths-nearly twice the number of U.S. forces killed-are often ignored in
U.S. press accounts.
Any total based on official recordkeeping or news reports is almost
certainly going to be incomplete-particularly in a country like Iraq, where
reporters' well-grounded fear of being attacked by either side results in
them seldom venturing out of Baghdad (or into most neighborhoods in Baghdad,
for that matter). As IBC itself notes on its website, "It is likely that
many if not most civilian casualties will go unreported."
In countries with functioning governmental institutions, reporters can rely
on official censuses or health records. In Iraq, however, a proposed census
was vetoed by the U.S. occupation government (Extra!, 3-4/04), and at this
point it would probably be too dangerous to conduct one. And the Iraqi
Ministry of Health, which maintains morgues and issues death certificates,
has close ties to Shiite death squads, according to the U.S. military,
making it a questionable source for casualty statistics (Extra! Update,
2/07). For what it's worth, the United Nations reviewed government records
and death certificates and reported a civilian death toll of 34,000 for 2006
alone (New York Times, 1/17/07). And Iraqi Health Minister Ali al-Shamari
estimated in November 2006 that 100,000 to 150,000 Iraqis had been killed by
violent acts since early 2004.
The standard way to estimate death tolls in war-torn areas is to use
epidemiological surveys based on a random sampling of the population. The
United Nations made one such survey in 2004, estimating 24,000 war-related
deaths in roughly the first year of the conflict. Using that as a minimum
annual figure-since it's recognized that violence has greatly intensified
since the first year of the occupation-produces roughly 100,000 as a
conservative estimate of Iraqi deaths. A comprehensive demographic survey by
Johns Hopkins University published in the medical journal Lancet (10/21/06)
arrived at a much higher death toll for the Iraq War: between 400,000 and
900,000 "excess" deaths by violence in Iraq-civilians and combatants-since
the beginning of the U.S. invasion, with 600,000 being the mostly likely
statistical estimate.
Given the difficulties inherit in gathering precise data on Iraqi deaths,
journalists should cite a plausible range of casualty estimates, rather than
using the lowest estimate available-as Sawyer and Stephanopoulos have done.
In February, the Associated Press released a poll that found that while the
U.S. public knows the death toll for U.S. servicemembers in Iraq, the median
estimate for Iraqi deaths was 9,890. The findings are a damning indictment
of the corporate media's reporting on Iraq. Journalists like Diane Sawyer
and George Stephanopoulos don't make things any better by severely
low-balling the number of Iraqis who have died as a result of the war.
ACTION: Encourage ABC to use more accurate estimates of Iraqi deaths when
reporting on the issue. Ask them to explain how they arrived at their 60,000
figure
"Jas" <jasmin1@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:eu75cs$ek0$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...
> Somalia: An Oily Clich March 25, 2007
>
> By David Barouski
>
> Today, it is a reflexive clich to claim the United States (U.S.) is off
> on another oil-acquisition conquest anytime they invade an Arabic nation.
>
> In the case of Somalia, the clich may neverless true. While undoubtedly,
> the U.S. and its Ethiopian proxy conqured Somalia and "liberated" it from
> the clutches of Al-Qaeda primarily for geostrategic reasons (possible
> launching point to attack Iran, more friendly territory close to Arabic
> Sudan, more ports under their control, a possible regional base for the
> AFRICOM command post, potential launching points to protect the Strait of
> Hormuz [the primary shipping point of Middle Eastern oil], etc), Somalia
> is awash in unspoken oil and provides a tantalizing business opportunity.
>
> Perhaps We Had Better Start From the Beginning?
>
> The story begins in 1990, just prior to the horrible famine of almost
> Biblical porportions that claimed thousands of innocent lives in Somalia.
> Mohamed Said Barre was in charge of the country. Barre signed of nearly
> two-thirds of his country to Conoco, Amoco, Chevron, and Phillips (this
> was prior to the Conoco-Phillips merger). Unfortunately for them, Barre
> was overthrown by Mohammed Farah Aideed of the rival Hebr Gedr clan in
> January 1991 and launched a civil war shortly thereafter.
>
> After Aideed started the civil war, the oil giants were unable to work
> their concessions for two reasons. One, the constant fighting, robbery,
> and pirating off the coast made it impossible. Second, it was technically
> illegal because Somalia did not have a recognized government. Since
> Somalia was run by a that it was illegal to do business with, the oil
> companies were out of luck. Either the U.S. had to legitimize Aideed in
> the eyes of the international community or remove him. Either way, the
> fighting had to stop.
>
> As one of his last acts as President, George H.W. Bush (who owned oil
> concessions across the Gulf of Aden in Marib, Yemen via Hunt Oil) sent the
> first wave of U.S. soldiers to Somalia to officially help deliver food to
> starving Somalis. Meanwhile, U.S. Special Envoy to Somalia Robert Oakley
> kept in daily contact with Aideed from December 1992 to May 1993. He was
> unsuccessful in his negotiations to end the fighting. President Bill
> Clinton then resorted to "Operation Restore Hope." Conoco's office in
> Mogadishu served as a de facto U.S. Embassy for the landing Marines after
> the original building was shelled and looted. Mr. Oakley and Marine
> General Frank Libutti wrote a letter of commendation to Conoco Somalia's
> General Manager Raymond Marchand thanking him for his service.
>
> After a series of unsuccessful assassination attempts by U.S. forces, the
> Somalis struck back during a U.S. raid in the infamous "Blackhawk Down"
> incident (the U.S. Army dubbed it the "Battle of the Black Sea" while the
> Somalis' called it "Maalinti Rangers" [Day of the Rangers]) on 3-4
> October, 1994 that claimed the lives of 18 Americans and one Malaysian
> soldier. President Clinton pulled out of Somalia and the place was left to
> its own devices while the U.S. cultivated relationships with Ethiopian
> Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Djibouti's President Hassan Gouled, and
> Eritrea's President Isaias Afewerki. Aideed was assassinated in 1996 by
> Osman Hassan Ali Atto.
>
> Somalia continued to be deeply fractured after the death of Aideed. The
> extreme northwest corner of Somalia, known as Somaliland, declared
> independence in 1991, but did not receive any diplomatic recognition. The
> adjacent region to the east, known as Puntland, followed suit in 1998
> under the leadership of presidency of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, but with one
> major difference. They only wanted to be a separate Somali state, not a
> country.
>
> Flash Forward?. Puntland had some lucrative oil concessions, but the
> turnover of governments left most of the contracts null and void. The
> companies also faced a legal problem. Since Puntland was not its own
> autonomous state, the companies had to deal with the central government in
> order to do business. The problem was?there was no central government
> entity. That needed to be changed.
>
> Somalia began toying with creating a government in 2001. Indeed, the
> French oil giant TotalElfFina signed an agreement with the Transitional
> Government for a concession in southern Somalia. After lots of jockying
> for power between the clans, the first government plan was signed in July
> 2003. Kenya was overseeing the process and the federal charter was signed
> in September 2003.
>
> Fighting broke out again in 2004, particularly in the south, and it
> reached Mogadishu by the end of May. As a result, the Somali Government
> was in exile in Nairobi. Despite the chaos, parliament members were sworn
> in during August 2004. They voted Abdullahi Yusuf (from the Darod clan,
> which is not liked in Mogadishu) president. Mr. Yusuf is a career soldier
> who served as Somalia's mlitary attach to the Soviet Union. When the U.S.
> backed Barre's rise to power, Mr. Yusuf refused to turn on his Soviet
> Allies and was imprisoned. After he was released, he took part in a failed
> coup attempt on Said Barre. He fled to Kenya and befrended the Ethiopians.
> He later returned to northern Somalia and ran Puntland since its
> independence in 1998, making him a valuble ally to U.S. oil interests if
> he could shed his communist-supporting background.
>
> In December 2004, Ali Mohammed Gedi was appointed the Prime Minister. He
> hails from the Abgaal sub-clan of Mogadishu's Hawiye clan, one of the two
> largest clans in the country. The new government relocated to Mogadishu
> and by May 2005, Mohammed Qanyare Affrah, Osman Ali Atto, and Muse Sudi
> Yalahow united their militias as a de facto government army. By late 2005,
> the government's transition process was derailed.
>
> Some factions were not happy the largest clans possessed all the power
> positions. President Yusuf and Prime Minister Ghedi both survived
> assassination attempts and retreated back to Kenya. By October 2005, the
> Transitional Government was purchasing large amounts of arms from Yemen
> and arming allied clans to defend Mogadishu and Baidoa to the south.
> Ethiopia was also suppling the Transitional Government with weapons.
>
> Contemporary History
>
> From the beginning of 2006 until July, fierce fighting between rival clans
> and political movements occurred. It culminated with the Union of Islamic
> Courts (UIC) seizing control of Mogadishu, and in effect, the country,
> though most of the Transitional Government was still located in Baidoa.
> While Eritrea armed the UIC, the U.S. unsuccessfully backed the opposing
> forces, called the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and
> Counter-Terrorism (ARPC).
>
> The so-called warlords leading the ARPC, Mohamed Dheere, Bashir Raghe, and
> Mahamed Qanyare, had been spying for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
> years. A U.S. diplomat at the Nairobi Embassy was even fired for
> criticizing the CIA's policy.
>
> Once again, U.S. business interests were thwarted and the UIC's leader,
> Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, was already on the U.S.' official terrorist
> list for heading al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, a group supposedly linked to
> Al-Qaeda during the 1990s, making it illegal for them to do business with
> his regime.
>
> "Slick" Business Deals
>
> Beginning in 2005, Prime Minister Gedi demanded all business proposals go
> through the Transitional Government. He forbade anyone to approach the
> local administrations in Puntland, but he was willing to allow business
> there provided he approved of it. The Australian firm Range Resources
> Limited signed an agreement with the government of Puntland for exclusive
> rights to all their minerals, including oil, lead, zinc, copper, iron,
> manganese, tin, beryl, tantalum, niobium (columbium), uranium, coal, and
> gypsum.
>
> Range Resources obtained permission to exploit the land from Puntland
> President Mohamud Muse Hirse on 18 October, 2005, and from Prime Minister
> Gedi on 2 November 2005. They are also bidding to buy addition consessions
> from the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC). Range Resources is run by
> Non-Executive Chairman Sir Samuel Kwesi Jonah. S
>
> ir Jonah is a Board Member of: Lonmin, the Commonwealth African Investment
> Fund (Comafin), Transnet Limited, Anglo-American Platinum Corporation
> Limited, the Ashesi University Foundation, Equinox Minerals (Chairman),
> the uranium-producing nuclear power company UraMin Incorporated
> (Chairman), Anglo-American Corporation, Moto Goldmines Limited, Scharrig
> Mining (Chairman), Sierra Rutile Limited (Chairman), Sierra Resources
> Holding, Titanium Resources Group, Copper Resources Corporation (with
> George Arthur Forrest and George Andrew Forrest), Standard Bank Group of
> South Africa, Bayport Holding Limited, Transnet Limited, Equator
> Exploration Limited in Nigeria and So Tom - Prncipe (with Baronness
> Chalker), and Mittal Steel (currently in the proverbial hot seat for a
> contract they signed with the government of Liberia).
>
> He is a Advisory Council member of the U.N. Secretary General's Global
> Compact, South African President Thabo Mbeki's International Investment
> Advisory Council, the African Regional Advisory Board of the London
> Business School, First Atlantic Merchant Bank, Defiance Mining, Ghanian
> President John Kufuor's Ghana Investors' Advisory Council, President
> Obasanjo Nigerian Investors' Advisory Council, and serves as a
> Presidential Advisor to President Mohamud Muse Hersi of the Somali state
> of Puntland. He also holds an honorary British knighthood, the Star of
> Ghana and several other international awards and titles.
>
> Meanwhile, Perth-based Ophir Energy seeks to drill in Somaliland. Ophir is
> led by Alan Stein and is 50%-owned by South Africa's Mvelaphanda Holdings.
> Mvelphanda is run by Tokyo Sexwale and its Board of Directors includes
> Michael Beckett (former Chairman of Ashanti Goldfields, a company
> prevously run by Sir Jonah), and Bernard Van Rooyen (former director of
> the Canadian firm Banro Resources). Ophir was reportedly introduced to
> Somalia by Mvelaphanda's partner Dr Andrew Chakravarty, who's wife is a
> well-connected Somali national. Mr. Chakravarty's Rova Energy Corporation
> acquired offshore concessions formerly belonging to Equitable Life
> Investment Company and its U.S. partner Somapetroleum. Ophir currently is
> a 75% shareholder of Rova.
>
> The Rest, as They Say, is History
>
> Somalia's Transitional Government desired to keep Puntland as a part of
> the larger Somalia. This fact, coupled with several nations' unwillingness
> to work with the UIC (who may or may not recognize the contracts) led to a
> need to restore the Transitional Government in Mogadishu and remove the
> UIC. This line of thinking was directly in line with the U.S., who wanted
> to control Somali for the aforementioned geostrategic reasons and also to
> prevent the nation from becoming a "terrorist safehaven." The U.S. backed
> Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia to stamp out the UIC once-and-for-all. They
> also supplied air support and Special Forces soldiers to aid in the
> mission. The UIC was run into Kenya, where many of its leaders were
> arrested. Others fled into hiding in southern Somalia.
>
> The U.S. officially continues to hunt Al-Qaeda in Somali. They are pushing
> for an African peacekeeping force to be deployed in the nation as soon as
> possible.
>
> Unsurprisingly, two nations with a history of acting as U.S. proxies in
> the region answered the call. The Ugandan People's Defense Force (UPDF)
> pledged two battalions to enforce the peace and train the Somali army. The
> U.S. has pledged to provide logistics support for Uganda,which likely will
> include airlift support.
>
> If the private military contractor Military Professional Resources
> Incorporated (MPRI) gets involved in the logistics like they have in
> Darfur, the context of U.S. involvement in Somalia could take on a whole
> new outlook, especially if counterinsurgency operations become the norm.
>
> MPRI offers a perfect opportunity to embed U.S. operatives to do the
> illicit bidding of the Pentagon the U.S. Armed Forces cannot. The Somali
> Government has been reinstalled in Mogadishu and though violence is
> constant in the city, the government has moved forward. Many of the
> cabinet members are dual citizens, with the majority coming from Canada.
> Others are former warlords.
>
> The Deputy Prime Minister is Hussein Farah Aideed, the son of the late
> warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed. In contrast to his father, Hussein is
> actually a naturalized American citizen and a former U.S. Marine who
> served in the Gulf War. He even served as a U.S. emissary during Operation
> Restore Hope, where he met with his father several times.
>
> With a central government in place, the corporations with concessions in
> the more peaceful northern region of the country can begin their work.
> ConocoPhillips has stated they are not interested in doing business in
> Somalia at this time. Will ChevronTexaco and other American oil giants
> take advantage of the opportunity to exploit Somalia? Only time will tell,
> but Ophir, Rova, and Range Resources are probably grateful to the U.S. and
> Ethiopia.
>
> 1. Madsen, Wayne. "Genocide and Covert Operations in Africa 1993-1999."
> Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales, United Kingdom: Edwin Mellen Press, Limited.
> 1999. pg. 31.
>
> 2. "The Oil Factor In Somalia," Mark Fineman. Los Angeles Times. 18
> January, 1993.
>
> 3. Bowden, Mark. "Blackhawk Down: A Story of Modern War." New York, New
> York: Penguin Putnam Incorporated. 1999.
>
> 4. "UN: Arms Pouring Into Somalia," Al-Jazeera. 8 October, 2006.
>
> 5. "U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia," Karen DeYoung, Emily Wax.
> The Washington Post. 17 May, 2006. Note: A confidential U.N. Security
> Council report revealed several armed Islamic groups armed and fought with
> the UIC, including Hezbollah and fighters from several Islamic nations
> including Saudi Arabia.
>
> 6. "Somalia: Fighting in the Shadows." Jeffery Bartholet, Michael Hirsh.
> Newsweek. 5 June, 2006. Note: One of the planners for these types of
> intelligence operations was Steven Cambone's Deputy Undersecretary of
> Intelligence at the Pentagon, General William "Jerry" Boykin, who is known
> for his anti-Islamic comments. Boykin commanded the Delta Force team
> deployed in Mogadishu in 1993.
>
> 7. "Profile: Somalia's Islamist Leader," Joseph Winter. BBC News. 30 June,
> 2006.
>
> 8. Range Resources Limited. "Exclusive Rights to All Minerals in
> Puntland." Company Announcements Office. 5 October, 2005.
>
> 9. President Mohamud Muse Hirse. "Letter to Consort Private Limited and
> Mr. Tony Black." Office of the President. 18 October, 2005; Prime Minister
> Ali Mohammed Gedi. "Letter to Puntland State of Somali and Vice President
> Hassan Dahir Mohamud. Offic of the Prime Minister. OPM/251/05. 2 November
> 2006.
>
> 10. "Minnows See Oil Seeping Out From Fractured State," Eleanor Gillespie,
> Jon Marks. African Energy. Issue 100. 20 July, 2006.
>
> 11. Ibid.
>
> 12. State House of the Republic of Uganda. "'US to Provide UPDF Support to
> (sic) Somalia' - Frazier." Press Release. 29 January, 2007.
>
> 13. Confidential Source. 2007.
>
> 14. Kevin Sites. "Son of Aideed." Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone. Yahoo News.
> 29 September, 2005. http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs1077.
>
> Appendix I: Documentation
>
> Letter from President Hirse to Consort Private Limited:
> http://www.zmag.org/racewatch/LetterHirse.pdf Letter from Prime Minister
> Gedi to the Government of Puntland:
> http://www.zmag.org/racewatch/LetterGedi.pdf
>
>
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