Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 12. december 2005 / Time Line December 12, 2005
Version 3.511. December 2005, 13. December 2005
12/12/2005
The Iraq Index - A Graphic Description
By: JOHN S. FRIEDMAN, The Nation
December 12th, 2005 [from the December 19, 2005 issue]
View and download charts in PDF
format
As the debate about when and how to exit Iraq intensifies, it is
essential to have information that is accessible and that puts the
human costs of the war in context.
More American soldiers have died in Iraq than in all US conflicts
put together since Vietnam. About eight times more soldiers have
died in Iraq than in Afghanistan and all other countries where the
United States is fighting terrorism, combined. Most of those who
have died came from poor, rural areas. The smaller US territories
and commonwealths are paying the greatest price. American Samoa,
the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands have the
highest number of deaths per capita. On the other hand, Puerto Rico
has the second-lowest number. Of the states, Vermont has the
highest and Utah the lowest number of deaths per capita.
Approximately 26 percent of those killed have been minorities. This
percentage is about the same as in the Gulf War (24 percent), but
much greater than in the Vietnam War (14 percent) or even
Afghanistan (19 percent). Citizen soldiers (reservists and members
of the National Guard) are shouldering a significant proportion of
the casualties, accounting for about one-quarter of all US deaths
since the war began. More than 15,500 US soldiers have been
wounded--more than seven times the number who have died.
It is extremely difficult to get precise data in Iraq's chaotic war
zone. The Pentagon reports the number of wounded only about twice a
month, and warns that many of its statistics are subject to change.
Some of the numbers compiled on these pages can only be estimates.
One of the most up-to-date sources of casualty information, relying
on Department of Defense data, is the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
website (icasualties.org), where dedicated volunteers keep daily
track of the US victims. Other helpful sources include The Iraq
Quagmire, a report by the Institute for Policy Studies
(ips-dc.org); globalsecurity.org; and tedkennedy.com.
Sixty journalists have been killed in Iraq, according to the
Committee to Protect Journalists. The exact number of private
contractors and other civilian employees who have been killed is
not known. But at least 428 have died and 3,963 have been injured,
according to Knight Ridder Newspapers. Of these deaths, at least
147 are Americans, the New York Times reports. This figure is
probably low; seventy-nine employees from Halliburton alone have
died in Iraq, according to a company spokesperson.
The total number of Iraqis who have been killed will never be
known. Recently the Pentagon reported that nearly 26,000 Iraqis had
been "killed or wounded from insurgent attacks" from the beginning
of 2004 to September 2005. But when you add the estimated number of
Iraqis killed by American forces, the figure could be more than
100,000, according to a controversial 2004 study published in The
Lancet, a respected British medical journal. Another source,
iraqbodycount.org, estimates that by late November, Iraqi deaths
totaled between 27,115 and 30,559.
The war has already cost the United States an estimated $251
billion. Each day an estimated $195 million is being spent--money
that could provide twelve meals to every starving child in the
world, according to Senator Ted Kennedy's office. In addition, one
day of Iraq War expenses could cover what the College Board
estimates to be the full cost of a public higher education for some
17,000 American students.
The tragedy of Iraq can never be told by numbers alone. To borrow
from John Crawford's firsthand account of the war, The Last True
Story I'll Ever Tell, the following chart "won't bring back
anyone's son or brother or wife." But perhaps it will "simply make
people aware, if only for one glimmering moment," of the terrible
costs of a war that refuses to end.
12/12/2005
Regeringen vil øge den danske våbenproduktion, skriver
Berlingske Tidende.
12/12/2005
CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense
The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (CSDL), Cambridge, Mass., is
being awarded a $101,084,960 modification to previously awarded
cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00030-05-C-0007) to develop all
the system software and algorithms, system sensors, gyroscopes, and
accelerometers for the MK6 LE system. CSDL will also build all the
system test beds and integrate all the subsystems produced by the
subcontractors into the final MK6 LE proof of concept model. CSDL
will subcontract to the following companies in support of this
effort: General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Pittsfield
Mass., will encompass MK6 LE system design effort and system
reliability, availability and maintainability tasks; Raytheon Co.,
Electronics Systems Division, El Segundo, Calif., will support the
MK6 LE effort by providing radiation testing, MK6 LE module design,
and breadboarding of MK6 LE system components; Honeywell
International, Space Systems Group, Clearwater, Fla., will support
the MK6 LE effort by supporting the design of the MK6 LE memory and
the design, development and delivery of strategic grade
Interferometric Fiber Optic Gyroscope prototype units; and Dynamics
Research Corp., Andover Mass., will support the MK-6 LE effort by
providing technical support in the design of the communication and
timing subsystem and MK6 LE test equipment. Work will be performed
in Cambridge, Mass., and is expected to be completed September
2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current
fiscal year. The contract was not competitively procured. The
Navy's Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the
contracting activity.
J. Walter Thompson Co., USA, Atlanta, Ga. is being awarded a
$36,180,000 modification to previously awarded GSA Task Order
(M00264-02-F-0213) for marketing and advertising services in
support of the Marine Corps recruitment programs. The cumulative
value of this contract is $196,467,853. Work will be performed in
Atlanta, Ga., and is expected to be completed by September 2006.
Contract funds in the amount of $36,180,000 will expire at the end
of the current Fiscal Year. The Regional Contracting Office
Northeast, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Campbell-Ewald, Warren, Mich., is being awarded a $15,963,221
firm-fixed-price delivery order modification under previously
awarded contract (N00140-06-D-0005) to provide services in support
of the Navy Recruiting Command's Navy Recruitment Advertising
Program. Work will be performed in Warren, Mich., and is expected
to be completed by July 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the
end of the current fiscal year. This contract was awarded through
full and open competition, with two offers received. The Fleet and
Industrial Supply Center Norfolk, Philadelphia Division is the
contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Co., King of Prussia, Pa., was
awarded on 12 December 2005, a $12,500,266 Cost Plus Incentive Fee
contract modification fee to provide for Intercontinental Ballistic
Missile (ICBM) provide Interim Contractor Logistics Support (ICLS)
for hardware in support of the Safety Enhancement Re-entry Vehicles
(SERV) Support Equipment (SE), which provides the capability to
replace the MK21 Re-entry Vehicle (RV), from the Peacekeeper weapon
system, into the Minuteman III weapon system. To Support this
replacement program the ICLS hardware will provide the needed
coverage on hardware problems that may take place out at the
missile bases. Total funds have been obligated. This work will be
complete by June 2008. The Headquarters Ogden Air Logistics Center,
Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity.
(FA8204-05-C-0005-P00003).
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