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Originally posted by itai195: What I find asinine is discounting the anti-war movement because they may have exaggerated a statistic. Civilian deaths are horrible whether it's 500 or 5000, and I think that's their point. It seems perfectly legitimate to me, and I by no means would place myself within the anti-war camp. |
I don't need to dismiss the anti-war movement because of their exagerations. They do a good enough job discrediting themselves (many of them, not all.)
If they truly believed that just ONE civilian death was too many, then a) they wouldn't have sent in "human shields" and b) they wouldn't have readied the world for "thousands" of deaths. Or were they just exagerating for dramatic effect. Or was that dramatic effect like yelling "the sky is falling."
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Originally posted by itai195: Lets be honest though, it seems quite possible that we've only scratched the surface as far as civilian deaths go, seeing as how we aren't even to Baghdad yet and are just starting operations in northern Iraq. Not to mention that the war may drag on for weeks or months, worsening humanitarian concerns. |
However, it is MHO that any civilian deaths can be directly blamed on Saddam Hussein. Had he cooperated with the UN or left the country when Bush gave him the 48 hour ultimatum.
Keep in mind, as well, that Saddam has already killed as many as 1.5 million of his own people through methods ranging from plastic shredders to chemical weapons to just an everyday pistol. Not to mention blowing the oil for food money on palaces and starving his people.
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Originally posted by itai195: I'm no military expert, but considering the above facts I'd have to admit that civilian casualties so far are much higher than I hoped they would be. After all, weren't we supposed to be in Baghdad by now? The key to toppling the regime is in Baghdad, not Najaf or Nasiriya or Basra. |
I don't remember seeing anything saying we'd be IN Baghdad in 12 days.
However, the hyperbole I read was always that we were going to carpet bomb the entire country killing thousands and thousands of Iraqis. That was patently false.
The targets have all been of military significance. No attempt has been made to purposefully kill civilians. At least not by the coalition.