Iraq By Numbers
Let the numbers speak, testifies Iraqi scientist Souad N. Al-Azzawi and member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee, detailing how she and her fellow Iraqis have been and continue to be devastated by the ongoing occupation and violence in her country. See also the previously posted video addresses from the Tribunal as well as its call for the use of the Resolution 377 Mechanism (The UN’s Hidden Peace Weapon?).
Six years into the occupation…
– 72 months of destruction
– $607 Billions spent on the war
– 2 Million Barrels of oil being sold per day
– 2 Million Displaced Iraqis inside of Iraq
– 3 Million Iraqis forced to leave the country
– 2615 professors, scientists, and doctors killed in cold blood
– 338 dead journalists
– $13 Billion misplaced by the current Iraqi government
– $400 Billion required to rebuild the Iraqi infrastructure
– 3 hours average of electricity daily
– 24 car bombs per month
– 7 major mafias running the country
– 4260 Americans dead
– 10,000 cases of cholera per year
– 50 of my friends dead
– 22 of my relatives dead
– 15 abductions of close relatives and people I know and love
– At least 1.3 million Iraqis dead since 2003.
Six years into the occupation and somehow, the numbers are not looking better. Year after dismal year, the numbers of dead and displaced grow as we continue to reap the rewards of an American occupation on our country.
So the numbers speak for themselves. Six. Six months is what it took for most Iraqis to realize no good could come of this war and occupation. Six years is what it has taken the rest of the world. Six years, six million Iraqis displaced inside and outside of Iraq- well over a million Iraqis dead or dying inside of the country.
As a scientist, as a researcher- it is a disaster that will never be sufficiently documented with numbers or words. As a researcher, the numbers are so astounding that we go back and recalculate to make sure they are real. As an Iraqi, it is enraging. The numbers and statistics fill me with a rage and shame that make my heart throb and my blood boil. It’s a rage towards all who are silent and uncaring, and a shame at the little we all are doing.
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