95five-0

Given the massive media coverage of the Iraq War, and the pop-culture fashion of being opposed to it, one could be led to think that this is one of the most major wars ever fought. Therein lies the proof that we are actually living in the most peaceful time ever in human history.

Just a few decades ago, wars and genocides killing upwards of a million people were commonplace, with more than one often underway at once. Remember these?

Second Congo War (1998-2002) : 3.6 million deaths

Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) : 1.5 million deaths

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979-89) : 1 million deaths

Khmer Rouge (1975-79) : 1.7 million deaths from genocide

Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) : 1.5 million deaths from genocide

Vietnam War (1957-75) : 2.4 million deaths

Korean War (1950-53) : 3 million deaths

This list is my no means complete, as wars killing fewer than one million people are not even listed. At least 30 other wars killed over 20,000 people each, between 1945 and 1989.


full article:
http://futurist.typepad.com/my_weblo...nds_of_wa.html

koala

Estimated number of deaths in Conflicts, 1994-2003 ........ 13,341,200
http://www.globalpolicy.org/msummit/...report2005.pdf page 9



Iraq Body Count report, March 2006
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/press/pr13.php
Fact Sheet: Iraqi War (Sources: CBC, CNN, BBC, US Dept of Defense) 2006
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908900.html

bry623

Communication that's the key here. Countries with more communication have less strife.

yustr

Let me get this straight...your point is that since we've killed more in the past it's OK to kill some now? I respectfully disagree.

And, don't forget that this climate of fear has be trumpetted by Bush and his puppet handlers and the "fair and balanced" media. All in an orchestrated attempt to get us to believe exactly opposite of what you showed.

jgvernonco

Mr yustr, tsk, tsk tsk.

We haven't discussed "puppet handlers" since the Reagon era, and the "fair and balanced media" is a myth put forth by liberal journalists who were taking too much heat (eg, Dan Rather).

Did you notice where we are fighting the war today? We are fighting it in US airports, and the stakes appear to be high. I wonder how they are doing in Iran and Syria, today?

I do respect greatly your respect for life, but I am afraid that your sentiments are not shared by many in this world. Unfortunately, many applaud those folks' right to believe that way. I do not.

Ben Franklin said it best when he said, "Those that sacrifice essential liberties for temporary safety deserve neither".

-=Rousseau=-

I think the point really was, the world isn't as violent today as it seems and the media makes it out to be. We hear on the news constant reports of bombings, wars, terrorism, etc. It may seem like violence is rising, but really it is that we are more aware of the violence through greater media coverage and a more connected world.

In an ideal world, yes NO war would be good. But this world is not ideal. It cannot be ideal. It will not be ideal. SOMETHING has to be done about terrorism, dictatorships, and tyranny, but I won't pretend to have the answers... The fact is, we do not live in a perfect world. There are people with evil motives who do not listen to reason or respond to diplomacy. What to do about it is an extremely hard question.

yustr

First off: I believe "Fair and Balanced" is the mockier of FoxNews which has been the mouth piece for Bush since day one. So my comment is an attempt at irony.

As far as my puppet handlers comment; I do not believe the George is smart enough to have thought of all the things we've seen on his watch. The group For a New American Century (or something like that - it's late so I won't look it up until tomorrow) has some heavy thinkers some (or most) of whom have showed up in GWB's administration in some major role. (I say they're heavy thinkers out of respect for the power of their brains not for the ideas that those brains spew out.)

And let's talk about the events of yesterday. Congratulations to the British and American intellegence agencies for stopping the plot (I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one - of course there have been other similar pronouncements that turned out to be so much fluff.) But assume its true. Notice that there was no need to invade anyplace. There was no need to occupy any country. There was no need to fake WMD or mushroom clouds. Just good old fashion law inforcement and covert intellegence gathering.

So my point is still the same. We may live in less violent times but you couldn't tell that by listening to our President or his chief puppettier Cheney for the last 6 years. By perpetuating a climate of fear he has been able to run roughshod over the Constitution and to invade a country that did not represent a threat to us.

bry623

Since WWII, wherever an American soldier has died, that country has not been a threat to us (until Afghanastan).

My take on the point of the thread is that if the MSM reasd the names of every American who died in WWII, it would take weeks to do so.

newhouse1390

Don't give yourself a false sense of security, there are still millions of Islamic terrorists that are dedicated to our destruction. Just because we foil an attack doesn't mean the threat no longer exists. It seems to me the liberals think that if we pull out of Iraq they will win the war on terror. What happened in Britain is bound to happen again and again unless we continue to fight the enemy’s ability to carry out big blows like the one recently attempted. What happened yesterday is not a sign the threat is being diminished, it just means that our law enforcement and intelligence gathering techniques have got much better. Living under the fear of flying because a terrorist may be on board is not acceptable to me, and it shouldn't be to anyone. Same thing with Israel. It is not acceptable to have 700,000 people living in bomb shelters fearing for there lives. We are working to eliminate that threat completely, when that day comes I will be able to say we live in the most peaceful of times.

linderman

The key to vicotry in my opinion is education and a better standard of living.

The world as a whole must educate the middle eastern world in a main stream fashion >>> not by the interpretation of the Koran by some crazy cleric.

When there life style becomes elevated and they are also subjected to world news that is not of a canned vartiety; then they will have something to "lose"

until then; how are you going to punish these people when they exibit and deliver extremist goals.

The priority of all industrialized countries should be to raise the standard of living for the population as a "whole" not just the puppet dictators and baggage handlers

when the population as a whole has something more to lose; then they wont be so eager and condoning of erratic philosophies.

Why is India, Pakastian,Turkey, Egypt not so inundated with such hatred for the US and Israel ???

When a man is busy making a "good" living for his family he doesnt have so much time to be humped up over the Koran and the ramblings of lunatics.

prsings

It is my humble opinion that we need to spend the time and resources we currently spend on war toys, on making this country work as it should. By that, I mean a strong infrastructure, medical coverage for all, better paid teachers to bring our education to its potential, and true equality, the rest of the world would follow. It would no longer be necessary to force democracy down the throats of the world at gun point.

newhouse1390

We can't have health coverage if we are not here...