The statistics of war
by Volker Weber
Here are some stark statistics:All three of these stories are due to appear on tonight's Ten O'Clock News. They will probably run in that order - with the Middle East getting by far the most attention.
- Around 30 to 40 people are killed every day in the current Israel/Lebanon conflict.
- About 100 people are killed every day in the violence in Iraq.
- And 1,200 people are killed every day in the war in the Congo.
Comments
The key conflict is indeed the substitute war between the Israelis and Palestines. If one could solve this Gordian knot a lot of the other conflicts worldwide will be automatically solved, too. But I'm afraid not even a prayer will help on the short run.
Do You know how Alexander the Great solved the Gordian knot? I wonder if a similar solution could be applied here...
With "one" you mean the USA, namely Mr. Bush? Highly unlikely. They (including Cheney = Halliburton) are earning tons of money with these wars.
btw: what is the current body count in Afghanistan or Chechnya? Not much less, i guess?
I don't think there's enough oil to be had in the Congo. Yes, there is oil there, but nothing compared to the Middle East. You gotta have your priorities straight.
I don't understand why Africa gets so little attention. And I don't mean with the current administrations (does it get any attention from European administrations?). Numbers like that are appalling.
For some, the pain of living is now the challenge.
Kevin Sites blogging live from Lebanon at Yahoo.
FYI: A german blog about the situation in Congo. Live from the Congo by Andrea Böhm.
ich habe grosse mühe mit dem aufsummieren von menschenleben oder besser menschentoten. ich denke für den einzelnen und die familien macht es keinen unterschied. aber ja. medial gesehen ist es natürlich bemerkenswert, aber auf keine weise erstaunlich.
A selection of blogs: Blogging Beirut over there at Mario Sixtus.
Gregg, Africa does get attention from the European or the European Union administrations. The problem still is that they can only interfere with an UN mandate.
The EU fought for example for such an mandate for the eclection in Congo. They succeeded and now there are up to 2000 soldiers from Europe (up to 780 from Germany).
Interesting picture from the "Einssatzführungskommando": http://www.einsatz.bundeswehr.de/C1256F200023713E/CurrentBaseLink/W26N5M56184INFODE/$FILE/20060601_weltkarte.jpg
But for the present Bundeswehr (German army) the limit is near. They are not trained and equipped for all that foreign peace missions. That will (hopefully) change, but not overnight.
