"Credible" numbers of Iraqi brutality
No. "Number from a credible source". There is a difference.
Let's see - you labeled my number as "folklore" and a "story".
Hm. I apologize for any misunderstanding in that direction.
I wasn't talking about the number as "folklore". That comment was to this phrase: "It's just a number that has been stuck in the back of my mind for a while". Folklore = things that stick in people's minds without any recollection of a source. It wasn't an insult.
No, but the above mentioned follow-up comments were rather rude.
Sorry about that. Didn't mean it as such.
how could you have an opinion on the Iraq war without having some kind of idea about the consequences to the Iraqi people of leaving Saddam in power?
First and foremost, I know for a fact that the bulk of Saddam's killings (village gassings etc) were not happening in the months nor years preceding the invasion. Hence, there was no IMMEDIATE NECESSITY to step in and prevent a massacre, as was rightly the case in Bosnia.
Second, the reasons for which why I opposed the invasion of Iraq has nothing to do with the number of people who die of unnatural causes in Iraq.
As a side note, you might like to note that nobody else seems to know for sure just how many people were killed by Saddam's regime in the years leading up to the invasion of Iraq. And that includes yourself, so far :-)
ask for "credible" sources on things that are deliberately obscure
Why would the number of deaths per year be an "obscure" matter?
You made a remark on deaths in Iraq's invasion being better than deaths due to Saddam on an average year. In order to make that remark, you must have had a number in your head. It turns out you do, and that number does not seem to have a source. Now I don't see anything obscure about that. Just uncertainty.
I am sorry if you are offended by this, but no such offense is intended. I would honestly like to be able to compare, but would rather not do that until I see a number that can be verified.
<<In October, 23 political prisoners, mainly Shi'a Muslims, were reportedly executed in Abu Ghraib prison.>>
...Now figure at least 5 major prisons (Basra, Mosul, Kirkuk, and two around Baghdad - a reasonable assumption) and 12 months in the year and you are up to about 1200 executions of political prisoners. Add in 50% more for all of the smaller towns and villages (a conservative estimate) and all of a sudden 2000 people seems reasonable.
Excuse me if I cannot understand just how "reasonable" it is to take "23 prisoners executed in October" to "2000 killed in Iraq in a year".
11 people were executed in the US in the month of July 2003. Does that mean 132 prisoners will be killed in the US this year? 10 people were executed in the US in December 2002. 71 prisoners were killed in the year 2002.
amnestyusa.org
Just to show you numbers from credible sources are better than making numbers up based on little data.
Just my opinion, anyway. |
