Draining The Swamp
So I read that Bush is comparing Iraq to the Philippines, saying that if the US could “bring about” democracy there, it could do the same for Iraq. Hmmm, given that the US occupation of the Philippines took several generations, and killed several million people through famine, extermination camps, and mass executions, if I was an Iraqi I’d be worried!
During the war, 4,234 American soldiers were killed and 2,818 were wounded. Philippine military deaths are estimated at 20,000 while civilian deaths numbered in 250,000 to 1,000,000 Filipinos. U.S. attacks into the countryside often included scorched earth campaigns where entire villages were burned and destroyed, torture (water cure) and the concentration of civilians into “protected zones”.
To emulate the Philippines model of bringing democracy, kill a similar proportion of Iraqis during the current occupation, the US will have to slaughter around 3.5 million Iraqis within this first year, and another 2 million over the next decade. Better get a move on!