END THE SILENCE ON IRAQ’S DEATH TOLL

As the death toll of U.S. soldiers crosses 2000, little if any attention is paid to the number of Iraqis who
have died. US General Tommy Franks expressed the view of the U.S. government when he said  "we
don't do body counts." Such a response hides the impact of this immoral and illegal invasion and
occupation.

All known estimates agree that the death rate in Iraq, especially the rate of violent death, has increased
dramatically since the US/UK invasion in March 2003. They all indicate that the number of ‘excess
deaths’, deaths that would not have occurred if not for the war, is staggeringly high.

(The following estimates may be used with confidence if one realizes that each one covers a particular
time period and assess a particular category of deaths due to the conflict, in its own particular way.)

IRAQ BODY COUNT reports that 30,000 civilians have been killed since the invasion. This figure is
compiled by counting only those persons who have actually been reported in the media or recorded at
morgues. Even so, with an approximate population of 25 million persons, this means that more than one
in every thousand persons has been killed. Clearly, this number is a minimal figure given that many other
deaths are not recorded, especially given the state of chaos caused by the occupation.
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

THE LANCET, the world premier medical journal, published a study in October 2004 which
conservatively estimated that 98,000 Iraqis (civilians, soldiers and insurgents) had died directly and
indirectly of war-related causes between March 2003 and mid-September 2004, an 18 month period.
This estimate was made after excluding the deaths resulting from the U.S. attack on Falluja, the most
war-torn area surveyed. http://image.thelancet.com/extras/04art10342web.pdf

THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM REPORT states that in a period of one
year, March 2003-April 2004, there were 24,000 “war-related” deaths. This survey focused upon the
living conditions in Iraq. Only one page out of sixty was on deaths in the family.
http://www.iq.undp.org/ILCS/population.htm

To help break the silence, the “100,000 Rings” campaign  is running this entire week, October 24th -
28th, in almost 100 different locations across the US, UK and Switzerland. It is an act to end the
silence about the suffering and death in Iraq and to publicly unlock the grief that it has caused in our
communities. It also marks the anniversary of the release of the Lancet Study on 29 October 2004.
Each of the almost 100 participating groups will gather in a public place for a simple and solemn "Bell
Ringing" ceremony. Voices for Creative Nonviolence will ring a bell 1,000 times, each ring symbolizing
the death of an Iraqi person as a result of the war and occupation.

For more information,  on this campaign 773-878-3815,   info@vcnv.org      http://iraqmortality.org

ACTIONS
1. Conduct a prayer service or other gathering over the next few days to help focus attention on the
mounting toll of suffering and death in Iraq. The use of a bell and the following poem might help with this
gathering.

NO ONE IS AN ISLAND - John Dunne (adapted)

No one  is an Island, entire of it self;
every one  is a piece of the Continent,
a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends
or of thine own were;

any one's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in Humankind;
And therefore never send to know
for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.

2. Please distribute this Bulletin to friends, family, coworkers and your faith community.

3. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper using some of the information in this Bulletin.