US occ. authority suppresses study of Iraqi civilian casualties

[RBHam]

By Peter Symonds
15 December 2003
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/iraq-d15.shtml
In a crude effort to cover up the extent of its crimes in Iraq, the US occupation authority has brought pressure to bear on the country’s health ministry officials to halt a count of civilians killed and injured during the US-led invasion in March and subsequently.

Head of the ministry’s statistics department Dr Nagham Mohsen told the media last Wednesday that she had been summoned by the director of planning Dr Nazar Shabandar last month and told to stop a survey of hospitals aimed at tallying civilian casualties. He had also ordered her not to release any of the partial information that had been collected to date.

Mohsen said Shabandar had been acting on behalf of Health Minister Dr Khodeir Abbas—a member of US-imposed puppet administration, the Iraqi Governing Council. “We stopped the collection of this information because our minister didn’t agree with it,” she said. “The CPA doesn’t want this to be done.”

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[jonoboy]

1. this makes a complete mockery of all the Saddam rhetoric today

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. Imagine that....stop counting the dead

Haiburton over charge?

Plame blame game?

Usama who?

NO unemployment for christmans AGAIN?!?

Pay no attn. nothing to see here.

Privatize everthing, in the end it just feels good.

Did you hear they caught SH?

[izzie]

3. Will the good Dr be blown up by a road side bomb?

And really they are not Christian death? Right wing does not count those. Oh my God what am I saying? Could I really think that?

[RBHam]

4. Boost for Boortzers

Yep. Those people we "accidentally freed" from life don't count.