20/11/2004 00:00
TW
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by RAY FLEMING
IN the assault on Falluja 51 US soldiers were killed and 425 wounded. An estimated 1'200 insurgents were killed and a further 1'025 detained. These figures were provided by the US military yesterday. No information about civilian casualties was available but the evidence of a ruined city that we see on TV suggests that the number must be high. Some 250'000 people lived in Falluja and it hardly seems likely that all, or most, were able to escape before the fighting started. The total lack of concern on the part of the American authorities over how many civilians have died is disgraceful. When the figure was recently put at 100'000 by an American university research team it was quickly dismissed in Baghdad and Washington as inaccurate; but how do they know if they have not taken the trouble to find out for themselves? Some other non–governmental organisations trying to establish a figure have suggested the toll may between 10 and 20 thousand. Whether it is the lowest estimate or the highest the fact remains that this is an unacceptable loss of life among the people of a country who were told that the Anglo/American invasion was undertaken to free them from a brutal dictator.

Yesterday a force of 300 Iraq National Guards was given the job of attacking one of Baghdad's most important Sunni mosques. The use of Iraqis was presumably intended to deflect criticism that “infidels” were involved, but will the Sunni faithful make the distinction? The theory is that Iraq's interim prime minister Allawi requested the Falluja assault and yesterday's Baghdad raid but the truth is that he is a puppet dancing to America's tune. Everything is now predicated on holding elections in January, but each military measure taken to make the elections possible risks making it less likely that they will take place.