Baghdad residents and US Troops

I was looking at Iraq Coalition Casualties webpage, and just noticed the following articles and what was said..... and what was NOT said.

Baghdad civilian death totals are extreme - from Washington Times

http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20050821-110618-6132r.htm

Here's the whole article: "Civilian deaths in Baghdad in July were more than New York City had in all of 2004, and that's excluding car bombings and suicide bombings. Time magazine reports the surge in non-combat related violence is due to the various sects in Iraq who want to start a civil war. Reports that death squads are entering quiet Baghdad neighborhoods and killing innocent civilians are growing. Baghdad central morgue director, Faiq Amin Bakr, said 880 violent deaths occurred in the city in July. There are more than 5 million people living in Baghdad. In New York City, with a population of about 8 million, 571 people were killed in 2004. In Baghdad, another 100 people were killed by terrorism in July.

(There you have it: all those deaths are caused by death squads and terrorists. No responsibility by Americans, and no excuses of PTSD either.)


However, this man lived to tell his tale:

Iraqi General Says US Troops Shot Him - Police

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - "An Iraqi general who commands the country's border defence force was shot and wounded while driving in Baghdad late on Saturday and accused U.S. troops of firing on his car, police and hospital sources said. The report could not be confirmed directly with the general; a U.S. military spokesman said he was unaware of an incident."

(Sorry not to link, but the link is so long, I'm afraid it will mess up the page.)

And finally, even though Baghdad residents are hearty souls who do not suffer from PTSD even after years of war in their city and seeing their neighbor down the street get blow to bits, having US troops fire at them, living without electricity, water, jobs, and the threat of night time raids into their homes by US troops, Iraqi troops, Wolf Brigade, and god-knows-who, this is not true of US service after a year in the conflict zone:

In Two Shooting by Iraq Vets, War Stress Blamed by Associated Press

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/aug/20/082010527.html

"One was a skinny 20-year-old discharged from the Army who couldn't shake the piercing rat-a-tat-tat reminders of combat. The other, a decorated Marine family man whose job preparing bodies of U.S. soldiers for burial had caused clammy, restless nights. Both home from duty in Iraq.."

"Flashbacks, nightmares, a struggle to reconnect to an old life - these are all signs of post-traumatic stress disorder that many soldiers suffer from. The Army's surgeon general has said 30 percent of U.S. troops surveyed have developed stress-related mental health problems just months after returning home. A New England Journal of Medicine study found almost 1 in 6 soldiers showing symptoms of mental stress."

That article is worth reading in full.

See how our media presents things? See how Americans can be so blind?