Murder and Mayhem
“Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic” by Chalmers Johnson examines the coverup of the murder and mayhem, which our invasion unleashed in Iraq.
Chalmers Johnson points out, that it has proven unimaginably lethal for unarmed civilians, but the role America has played in the carnage has been virtually taboo in the U.S. media. As late as October 2006, the journal of the British Medical Association, The Lancet, published a study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad estimating that, since March 2003, there were some 601,027 more Iraqi deaths from violence than would have been expected without a war. The British and American governments at first dismissed the findings, claiming the research was based on faulty statistical methods and the American media ignored the study, played down its importance, or dismissed its figures.
On March 27, 2007, the chief scientific adviser to the British Ministry of Defense, Roy Anderson revealed an estimated 650,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the occupation of Iraq began. Another British official described the methods used in the study as "a tried and tested way of measuring mortality in conflict zones." Over 650,000 violent deaths in a population estimated in 2006 at 26.8 million breaks down to one in every 45 Iraqi civilians killed.
One subject our government, military, and news media tries to avoid like the plague is the racist and murderous culture of rank-and-file American troops when operating abroad. This is partly a result of the background racism that is embedded in their mental make-up and the propaganda of American imperialism that is drummed into recruits during military training. Consequently, they do not see assaults on unarmed "rag heads" or "hajis" as murder. In Vietnam, the victims of My Lai atrocity were just “gooks”. Therefore, American soldiers followed orders and herded 347 old man, women, children and even babies into a ditch and shot them."
The cult of silence on killing unarmed civilians began to slip in May 2007 when a report prepared by the Army's Mental Health Advisory Team was leaked to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Based on anonymous surveys and focus groups involving 1,320 soldiers and 447 Marines, the study revealed that only 56% of soldiers would report a unit member for injuring or killing an innocent noncombatant, while a mere 40% of Marines would do so. Some militarists will reply that such inhumanity to the defenseless is inculcated into the properly trained soldier. If so, then the answer to this problem is to ensure that, in the future, there are fewer imperialist wars of choice sponsored by American taxpayers.
Chalmers Johnson points out, that it has proven unimaginably lethal for unarmed civilians, but the role America has played in the carnage has been virtually taboo in the U.S. media. As late as October 2006, the journal of the British Medical Association, The Lancet, published a study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad estimating that, since March 2003, there were some 601,027 more Iraqi deaths from violence than would have been expected without a war. The British and American governments at first dismissed the findings, claiming the research was based on faulty statistical methods and the American media ignored the study, played down its importance, or dismissed its figures.
On March 27, 2007, the chief scientific adviser to the British Ministry of Defense, Roy Anderson revealed an estimated 650,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the occupation of Iraq began. Another British official described the methods used in the study as "a tried and tested way of measuring mortality in conflict zones." Over 650,000 violent deaths in a population estimated in 2006 at 26.8 million breaks down to one in every 45 Iraqi civilians killed.
One subject our government, military, and news media tries to avoid like the plague is the racist and murderous culture of rank-and-file American troops when operating abroad. This is partly a result of the background racism that is embedded in their mental make-up and the propaganda of American imperialism that is drummed into recruits during military training. Consequently, they do not see assaults on unarmed "rag heads" or "hajis" as murder. In Vietnam, the victims of My Lai atrocity were just “gooks”. Therefore, American soldiers followed orders and herded 347 old man, women, children and even babies into a ditch and shot them."
The cult of silence on killing unarmed civilians began to slip in May 2007 when a report prepared by the Army's Mental Health Advisory Team was leaked to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Based on anonymous surveys and focus groups involving 1,320 soldiers and 447 Marines, the study revealed that only 56% of soldiers would report a unit member for injuring or killing an innocent noncombatant, while a mere 40% of Marines would do so. Some militarists will reply that such inhumanity to the defenseless is inculcated into the properly trained soldier. If so, then the answer to this problem is to ensure that, in the future, there are fewer imperialist wars of choice sponsored by American taxpayers.
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