An Iraqi humanitarian organisation has calculated that 128,000 Iraqis have been killed since the US-led invasion began in March 2003, United Press International reported on July 12. Dr Hatim al Alwani, chairperson of the Baghdad-based Iraqiyun, said that the toll includes everyone who has been killed since that time, adding that 55% of those killed have been women, and children aged 12 and under. Iraqiyun obtained data from relatives and families of the deceased, as well as from Iraqi hospitals in all the country’s provinces. The 128,000 figure only includes those whose relatives have been informed of their deaths and does not include those who were abducted, assassinated or simply disappeared. No official estimates of Iraqi casualties from the war have been issued by the Pentagon, which insists that it does not do “body counts”. The July 12 Washington Post reported that US military deaths in Iraq had reached 1755.

From Green Left Weekly, July 20, 2005.
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