Count the Dead
"Burial of the dead must be carried out individually if possible and must be preceded by a careful examination in order to confirm death and establish identity. The burials should be honorable and, if possible, according to the rites of the religion to which the deceased belonged. Graves must be properly maintained, with adequate record keeping, so that they may be found later. (Convention I, Art. 17)
The above guidelines also apply to dead prisoners of war (Convention III, Art. 120) and dead internees. (Convention IV, 130)
Hmm "...adequate record keeping" suggests a full reckoning. But note that there's no mention of the civilian dead. So do combatant powers have to account for enemy casualties? In Ezekiel 39:12 the Israelites spend seven months counting the dead of Gog and Magog. Then again, there are many things a victorious power is not required obliged to do: protecting cultural assets from looters comes to mind.
I'm perplexed by the Pentagon's refusal to count the Iraqi dead. I mean, I know the reason given: in Vietnam daily "body counts" proved to be wildly overstated, so now they would rather refuse to give any number than be later proved wrong. And yes, it is hard to tell apart civilians, guerillas and soldiers.
But that's not a reason, that's more like squeamishness, or pique. Anyway, overestimating "kills" happens all the time in wartime: we can deal with it. For instance, RAF fighter pilots claimed many more Luftwaffe planes shot down than were flying during the Battle of Britain. But historians have been able to get pretty accurate counts nevertheless.
And of course, proper respect for the enemy dead long precedes the Hague and Geneva Conventions: Achilles was punished by the gods for his abusive treatment of the body of Hector.
So maybe it counting them up would be a good thing to do, even if the rules of war don't spell it out for us.
Beth Osborne Daponte was a 29-year-old Commerce Dept. demographer in 1992, when she publicly contradicted then-Defense Secretary Richard Cheney on the highly sensitive issue of Iraqi civilian casualties during the Gulf War. In short order, Daponte was told she was losing her job.
Happy birthday Bruno!
Prosit ! Many happy returns...
Happy Birthday Bruno !
|
I'm perplexed by the Pentagon's refusal to count the Iraqi dead. I mean, I know the reason given: in Vietnam daily "body counts" proved to be wildly overstated, so now they would rather refuse to give any number than be later proved wrong. And yes, it is hard to tell apart civilians, guerillas and soldiers.
But that's not a reason, that's more like squeamishness, or pique. Anyway, overestimating "kills" happens all the time in wartime: we can deal with it. For instance, RAF fighter pilots claimed many more Luftwaffe planes shot down than were flying during the Battle of Britain. But historians have been able to get pretty accurate counts nevertheless.
And of course, proper respect for the enemy dead long precedes the Hague and Geneva Conventions: Achilles was punished by the gods for his abusive treatment of the body of Hector.
So maybe it counting them up would be a good thing to do, even if the rules of war don't spell it out for us.
- bruno 4-17-2003 1:52 am
Beth Osborne Daponte was a 29-year-old Commerce Dept. demographer in 1992, when she publicly contradicted then-Defense Secretary Richard Cheney on the highly sensitive issue of Iraqi civilian casualties during the Gulf War. In short order, Daponte was told she was losing her job.
- mark 4-17-2003 6:36 am
Happy birthday Bruno!
- jim 4-17-2003 9:23 pm
Prosit ! Many happy returns...
- frank 4-17-2003 9:54 pm
Happy Birthday Bruno !
- sarah 4-18-2003 1:44 am