And here they are Dave... The Christian Science Monitor suggests that between 5,000 and 10,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of the Declaration of War in 2003. These figures have been taken from hospital reports and from morgues in Iraq. LA Times reports that between 1,700 and 2,700 civilians were killed in and around Baghdad. The Washington Post claims that around 12,000 civilians have been killed since the conflict began and this is confirmed by the Iraq Interior Ministry who arrive at the same figure. Both the Washington Post and the Iraqi Interior Ministry point out that many of those killed were a direct result of insurgents and suicide bombers as opposed to coalition forces. "...In Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a market area crowded with civilians, killing nine..." Washington Post On reflection the US Department of Defense report that since the outbreak of war Coalition fatalities are: Great Britain 90 United States 1745 Other 99 And as of 10th June 2005 there have been 12,855 coalition wounded. (www.icasualties.org) On reflection you might want to take a look at the link I have provided you with, taking you to a site detailing the day known in Iraq as "Bloody Friday" where 5,000 innocent Kurdish civilians (75% of whom were women and children) were massacred in a mass launch of chemical weapons in Halbja, March 1988. This act carried out under the express orders of Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath regime. Furthermore, Human Rights Watch reports that over two decades 290,000 innocent civilians were executed or 'dissapeared' (in lamens terms tortured) by Saddam. I am not trying to justify the death of anyone Dave. What I am trying to say is lets not get caught up in the media hype and anti- war web sites ( this is not a suggestion by the way that you are!!) and lets try to look at the facts and that is that in the long term Iraq will be better off without Saddam Hussein and his dictatorial regime.

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