Thousands of Iraqis Killed During War Contributes Toward Resistance Against U.S. Occupation

Interview with Carl Conetta, co-director at the Project on Defense Alternatives, conducted by Scott Harris

The Nov. 2nd shooting down of an American transport helicopter in Iraq, which killed 16 and wounded 20 soldiers, was the most deadly attack on U.S. forces since President Bush's military invasion of Iraq last March. The assault on the helicopter, carried out with a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, is just the latest evidence of an escalating guerrilla war being waged against America's occupation army.

But despite a campaign carried out by the White House to emphasize all that's positive in occupied Iraq and the Pentagon's dismissal of guerrilla attacks as, "strategically and operationally insignificant," there is growing concern among the American people and the diminished prospects of foreign military assistance.

While the increasing number of U.S. soldiers killed and injured in Iraq are duly covered by the nation's media outlets, the press has paid little or no attention to the cost of the U.S. war on Iraqi soldiers and civilians. A new independent report released by the Project on Defense Alternatives in late October estimates that 13,000 Iraqis were killed during the initial combat phase of the ongoing war in Iraq. The study found that between 3,200 and 4,300 of the dead were unarmed civilians. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Carl Conetta, co-director at the Project on Defense Alternatives, who summarizes his group's report and explains why he believes it is important for U.S. policymakers to consider how the war's death toll among Iraqis contributes to the armed resistance confronting the American occupation.

Contact the Project on Defense Alternatives by calling (617) 547-4474 or visit their website at www.comw.org/pda

Related links:

"The Wages of War: Iraqi Combatant and Noncombatant Fatalities in the 2003 Conflict," by Carl Conetta, PDA Research Monograph #8, Oct. 20, 2003 www.iraqbodycount.net

*"Will U.S. Bring Back the Draft? Defense Web Site Seeks Volunteers; Conscription Abolished in '73 by Tim Harpe, the Toronto Star, Nov. 5, 2003

*"How Many Body Bags?" by Robert Scheer, the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 4, 2003

*"Deadly Tunnel Vision in Iraq," by Holly Sklar, Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, Oct. 31, 2003

*"Helicopter Down: The Weekend Deaths in Iraq-and the Pentagon's Response-Remind One Former CIA Analyst of Vietnam," by Ray McGovern, TomPaine.com, Nov. 3, 2003

*"Progress in Iraq? Shot Down, Killed, Wounded, Depressed," by Frida Berrigan, Nov. 4, 2003 by CommonDreams.org

*"Escalation of Guerrilla Attacks on U.S. Occupation Force in Iraq Shakes White House Confidence," Between The Lines interview with Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies, Week Ending 11/7/03

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"Between The Lines" is a half-hour syndicated radio news magazine that each week features a summary of under-reported news stories and interviews with activists and journalists who offer progressive perspectives on international, national and regional political, economic and social issues. Because "Between The Lines" is independent of all publications, media networks or political parties, we are able to bring a diversity of voices to the airwaves generally ignored or marginalized by the major media. For more information on this week's topics and to check out our text archive listing topics and guests presented in previous programs visit: http://www.btlonline.org

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