Iraqi casualties up again in March

According to figures released by Iraqi ministries, violent deaths toll in Iraq peaked to its highest level since August 2007, to 1,082. Among them, 925 civilians, 103 policemen and 54 soldiers. Meanwhile, the coalition suffered 38 losses during that month, a stable figure since October 2007.

This month may mark a stop in the improvement of the security situation since last summer, when the surge began, simultaneously with a ceasefire declared by Moqtada as-Sadr and the increase in the use of ‘Sons of Iraq’ sunni militiamen.

The recent improvement is not likely to last if the tensions persists between Sadr’s followers and the Iraqi security forces.

The US strategy appears clearly : to reduce as much as possible the exposure of the troops (during my last trip to Iraq, I could see that they prefer sometimes not to hold the field rather than being exposed), and look always for the easy short term solutions. The use of militias is one of them.

An NGOs call for Gaza

As I was in Northern Iraq, the situation substantially worsened in the Gaza strip. Isreali answer to rockets fired on the south of the country was an intensive campaign that costed over a hundred lives. According to local and international sources, many of these victims were obviously civilians, including 25 children. Around 250 persons were injured.

British human rights groups issued a press release saying that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has reached its worst point since Israel captured the territory in 1967.

According to their 16-page report, more than 1.1 million people, about 80 percent of Gaza’s residents, are now dependent on food aid, as opposed to 63 percent in 2006. It said that overall unemployment is close to 40 percent.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen acknoledged Israel must protect its citizens, “but as the occupying power in Gaza it also has a legal duty to ensure that Gazans have access to food, clean water, electricity and medical care.”

In a separate statement, Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme writes : “Israel has a legal obligation to protect the civilian population of Gaza. These attacks are disproportionate and go beyond lawful measures which Israeli forces may take in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups.”

French speakers can read an excellent post on Alain Gresh’s blog dedicated to the situation in Gaza (English readers will find references and links to articles in English). In English, you can read Gaza’s future, by Henry Siegman, in the London review of books. Read also the Vanity fair article about how the US administration backed an armed force lead by Muhammad Dahlan, due to crush the Hamas and that eventually contributed igniting the Palestinian civil war. “Part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs”, the magazine says.

One million dead in Iraq ?

Another controversial study ! A survey published by London-based Opinion Research Business (ORB) finds that around a million Iraqis have died as a result of a violence since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

2,414 Iraqis adults have been questioned face-to-face and asked how many members of their family -if any- died because of violence since 2003. The result is that one Iraqi household out of five has lost a member in relation to the conflict.
The survey makers estimate a margin of error of 1.7%. This means that the war claimed between 946,000 and 1,033,000 Iraqi lives.

This figure is much higher than he one generally publicized, mainly because of the method of counting. It appears that this poll method is much more inclusive than the accountancy of casualties based on press, police or coroner reports. Iraq body count, for instance, reports only beetween 80,000 to 88,000 ‘documented’ deads. But this definition of a ‘documented’ death is very restrictive.

But this higher figure is in line with the previous survey based on the same methodology. In October 2006, a study published in The Lancet estimated that around 655,000 Iraqis died because of violence.

On the same issue, another interesting story (by Reuters) : «Iraq has million-woman social time-bomb».

Two conflicts, two treatments

In Congo, governement negociators and rebel groups just reached an agreement to end fightings in the east – an undercovered sequel of the 1994 Rwandan genocide in this region rich with natural resources.
This deal is announced as a survey, published by the aid group International Rescue Committee (IRC) and carried out with the Australian Burnet Institute, reveals that this conflict claimed 45,000 lives every month. By killing in total 5.4 millions Congolese since 1998, it appeared to be a more lethal war than any other since World War Two.

And even if the fightings stop, life is still alarmingly precarious in Congo, with only 15$ per capita available every year for health care (compared to 6.000 $ in the US).

On the same continent, Darfur is still attracting pop stars. Just a couple of days after being appointed «messenger of peace» for the UN, George Clooney travelled to Chad to campaign against Sudan and the Janjaweed militiamen.

According to international experts, 200,000 have died because of the conflict in Darfur and 2.5 millions have been driven out from their home.
Of course, this is a tragedy and these are figures that the world can not accept. No excuses for those who kill in Darfur. But the war in Darfur has becomed a cause for lobbies in the West and is discussed in every political campaign, in the US as well as in Europe.

What about Congo ? Until this last survey, very few media outlets talked about the consequences of this war.

On the one hand, a conflict opposing an islamic regime and «moderate muslims». On the other hand, the aftermaths of a conflict partly ignited by the Western imperial policy.
Hollywood pays no attention and the press follows…

NB: I just watched a CBS 60 Minutes programm on the war in Congo. And Paul Moreira shot a good piece for Arte as well. It’s good to see that there are exceptions…