File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_2001/postcolonial.0112, message 95


From: Ntozake15-AT-aol.com
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 10:07:38 EST
Subject: Re: civilian deaths in Afghanistan


Marc Herold's essay and information on civilian deaths in Afghanistan can 
also be found at http://www.media-alliance.org


3,500 Civilians Killed in Afghanistan by U.S. Bombs

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 DECEMBER 10, 2001
 10:00 AM
     CONTACT: Marc Herold
 Marc Herold (603) 862-3375
 Andrea Buffa (510) 839-8911

 3,500 Civilians Killed in Afghanistan by U.S. Bombs University of New 
Hampshire Economics Professor Releases Study of Civilian Casualties in 
Afghanistan Monday Morning on Democracy Now! Radio/TV Show

 DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE - December 10 - More than 3,500 civilians have been
 killed in Afghanistan by U.S. bombs, according to a study to be released 
December 10 by Marc W. Herold, Professor of Economics, International 
Relations, and Women's Studies at the University of New Hampshire. Professor 
Herold will announce his findings on Monday, December 10 in a discussion with 
award-winning journalist, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! in Exile's War and 
Peace Report (http://www.democracynow.org).

 Professor Herold has been gathering data on civilian casualties since 
October 7 by culling information from news agencies, major newspapers, and 
first-hand accounts. "I decided to do the study because I suspected that the 
modern weaponrywas not what it was advertised to be. I was concerned that 
there would be significant civilian casualties caused by the bombing, and I 
was able to find some mention of casualties in the foreign press but almost 
nothing in the U.S. press," said Herold.

 Herold's data will be available at http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mwherold/.

 For each day since October 7, when the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan began, he 
lists the number of casualties, location, type of weapon used, and source(s) 
of information. Following are several examples from his daily calculations:

 *   On October 11, two U.S. jets bombed the mountain village of Karam, 
comprised of 60 mud houses, during dinner and evening prayer time, killing 
100-160 people. Sources: DAWN, (English language Pakistani daily newspaper), 
the Guardian of London, the Independent, International Herald Tribune, the 
Scotsman, the Observer, and the BBC News.

 *   On October 13, in the early morning, an F-18 dropped 2,000 lb. JDAM bombs
 on the Qila Meer Abas neighborhood, 2 kms. South of the Kabul airport, 
killing four people. Sources: Afghan Islamic Press, Los Angeles Times, 
Frontier Post, Pakistan Observer, the Guardian of London, and the BBC News.

 *   On October 31, in a pre-dawn raid, an F-18 dropped a 2,000 lb. JDAM bomb
 on a Red Crescent clinic, killing 15 - 25 people. Sources: DAWN, the Times of
 London, the Independent, the Guardian, Reuters, Associated Press, and Agence
 France Presse.

 Professor Herold has sought whenever possible to cross-corroborate accounts 
of civilian casualties. He relied upon British, Canadian, and Australian 
newspapers; Indian newspapers, especially The Times of India; three Pakistani 
daily newspapers; the Singapore News; Afghan Islamic Press; Agence France 
Press; Pakistan News Service; Reuters; BBC News Online; Al Jazeera; and a 
variety of other reputable sources, including the United Nations and other
 relief agencies.

 The Pentagon has repeatedly denied reports of civilian casualties in 
Afghanistan, and most U.S. media outlets have qualified their reports of 
casualties with the statement "could not be independently confirmed." But 
Professor Herold has been able to confirm the number of casualties and has 
found that the number is climbing toward 4,000. "People have to know that
 there is a human cost to war, and that this is a war with thousands of 
casualties," said Herold. "These were poor people to begin with, and, on top 
of that, they had absolutely nothing to do with the events of September 11."

Roxanne 






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