[extropy-chat] IRAQ: Weapons pipeline to Syria

[Spike]

> Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] IRAQ: Weapons pipeline to Syria
> 
> > OK, so how many civilian dead do you reckon there
> > are?
> 
> I haven't the faintest idea.  My point is, given the
> published confidence interval of this study, neither
> do they...
> One of the many, many, many
> reasons war really sucks...

On a distantly related note, I went down to Monterey
Taxifornia today to see a memorial to the soldiers
slain in Iraq, the 1100 Americans.  They had white
posts with their pictures and a short description of
how they perished.  I noticed that *all* the deaths
were included in the 1100 number, even those that
died of natural causes in Iraq, the suicides, the
auto accidents, the accidental shootings, the traditional
fights between soldiers, etc.  Looks like as many as a 
quarter of these deaths might as easily have happened had 
they stayed home.  I guess suicides might be a grey area:
perhaps they were called to active duty, were taken
away from a shaky marriage, they got a dear John or
Jane letter, shot selves in their dispair.  There were 
cases of leukemia and cancer that were apparently 
unrelated to being in the military.

Interesting point tho, of the soldiers slain in action,
it looked like about two thirds of them were killed
by crude homemade bombs.  I can imagine a lot of Iraqi 
civilians that were killed were actually done in by these 
homemade bombs, from being accidentally near them when 
they went off or from being hoist upon their own petard 
when making same.  

Has anyone seen an estimate of these statistics?  

spike