le cifre di una guerra (per una volta non soldi)

Nations cannot wage war responsibly or intelligently without careful attention to its costs. An elementary part of coming to terms with these costs is an accounting of war fatalities. Among other things, this accounting is relevant to gauging the repercussions of a war, both locally and worldwide. With regard to the 2003 Iraq conflict:

* Between 19 March and 1 May 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom cost the lives of approximately 201 coalition troops; 148 of these were Americans.

* On the Iraqi side: a review and analysis of the available evidence shows that approximately 11,000 – 15,000 Iraqis, combatants and noncombatants, were killed in the course of major combat actions. (Iraqi casualties incurred after 20 April are not included in this estimate). Of the total number of Iraqi fatalities during the relevant period, approximately 30 percent (or between 3,200 – 4,300) were noncombatant civilians — that is: civilians who did not take up arms.

These conclusions are based on an extensive review and analysis of operational data, demographic data, several hospital and burial society surveys, media interviews with Iraqi military personnel, battlefield fatality estimates made by US field commanders and embedded reporters, and media and non-governmental accounts of hundreds of civilian casualty incidents. (See Executive Summary section 6: “A note on methodology.”)

Expressed in terms of their mid-points, our estimates of Iraqi deaths are:

Total Iraqi fatalities:  12,950 plus or minus 2,150 (16.5 percent)
Iraqi noncombatant fatalities: 3,750 plus/minus 550 (15 percent)
Iraqi combatant fatalities:  9,200 plus/minus 1,600 (17.5 percent)