Web Site: American Troops Responsible for 1 Percent of Iraqi Civilian Deaths in 2006

The internet has been widely used by both sides of the war in Iraq, ranging from the domestic supporter, to the overseas recruiter, in the hopes of harnessing the power of such an easy method of communication and information distribution to sway a point. IraqBodyCount.net was formed early in the conflict in Iraq, with the stated intent of demonstrating clearly the death toll and cost in human lives of the conflict.

Referring to themselves as IBC, the site touts that it has largely been used by various press organizations, media, and websites, including the BBC and the Associated Press, and they have been broadly praised for its accurate, consistent, and seemingly unbiased reporting of nothing but the raw, hard, figures of the death tolls in Iraq, especially among civilians.

In fact, the Web site was even used in legal proceedings in the United Kingdom and International Criminal Court, further justifying its authenticity as a credible source of information. Therefore many are surprised to learn that the IBC's body count demonstrates that 1% of civilian deaths in 2006 are the result of collateral damage by American soldiers - while a staggering 98.7% are at the hands of fellow country men, foreign fighters, and other Muslims in the country.

According to the exact figures posted by the Web site, 16,791 civilians were murdered by Islamic extremists in the form of sectarian violence that included macabre torture chambers, IED roadside bombs, car bombs, suicide attacks, and other forms of terrorist aggression. In contrast, American troops have killed 225 civilians in 2006, all of which were done collaterally. Indeed, the United States has traditionally tried to minimize the collateral damage caused to civilians through the use of strategic smart bombing, and generally ruling out the carpet bombing tactic unless entirely necessary.

This has not stopped detractors from accusing the United States of specifically attacking civilian targets in the past, however, as did Jane Fonda when she declared that a crucial dike was being targeted by American bombers during Vietnam. The dike's continued intact status, naturally, disproves any notion that it was targeted for destruction by "continued bombing."

Although it is American policy to minimize civilian deaths, there are times, however, when even the finest generals acknowledge that they are impossible to avoid - especially when organizations such as the Taliban, Hamas, al-Qaeda, and Hezbollah surround themselves with strategically placed human shields, or defy the Geneva Convention by refusing to dress in uniform and hiding amongst large crowds.

Despite the fact that the primary antagonists of civilian deaths in the region are at the hands of Islamic extremists, Arab news such as al-Jazeera reports that the civilian deaths are "at the hands of the brutal American occupation," belying the fact that only 1% of the total civilian deaths of 2006 were the result of American operations.

Even IBC's own charts demonstrate that the majority of civilian violence has not been at the hands of American soldiers, who in fact are usually the first people that Iraqis run to when fighting begins.

The Web site, whose mission statement includes a strict anti-war stance, does have its detractors, however, who see the lack of integration of estimations such as the "hundreds of thousands of thought dead," figure as "fact". Instead, it insists to only use verifiable facts and figures, insuring that the death toll, which some pundits have accused to be as high as 600,000, is actually as low as 85,000.

The overwhelming majority of which is at the hands of Islamic militants.

Sources:

-Iraq Body Count
-Iraq Body Count Rationale
-Democracy Now