F Iraq, It's "Cheeper To Kill 'Em All" Than To Continue the War

A friend of mine pointed me to an article that indicates the US Taxpayer is paying Iraqi families $2K, on average, per civilian unjustly killed by US Forces in Iraq.

Interesting way to soothe the pro-life soul, don'tchya think? Or, is this whole Iraqi extravaganza worth the investment. My friend said,

At $2000 per dead Iraqi it would be cheaper to kill them all (25m Iraqis * $2k = $50b) than to continue the war. But to whom would we pay the money? Check my math for yourself.

Really, I'm not advocating genocide here. This is yet one more piece of proof that the W, Rove and Co has no justification at this time for all the mayhem they have caused the Iraqi people. Have a look at a slice of this report.

They represent only a small fraction of the claims filed. In all, the military has paid more than $32 million to Iraqi and Afghan civilians for noncombat-related killings, injuries and property damage, an Army spokeswoman said. That figure does not include condolence payments made at a unit commander’s discretion.

The paperwork, examined by The New York Times, provides unusually detailed accounts of how bystanders to the conflicts have become targets of American forces grappling to identify who is friend, who is foe.

In the case of the fisherman in Tikrit, he and his companion desperately tried to appear unthreatening to an American helicopter overhead.

“They held up the fish in the air and shouted ‘Fish! Fish!’ to show they meant no harm,” said the Army report attached to the claim filed by the fisherman’s family. The Army refused to compensate for the killing, ruling that it was “combat activity,” but approved $3,500 for his boat, net and cell phone, which drifted away and were stolen.

In the killings at the gas station in Balad, documents show that the Army determined that the neither of the dead Iraqis had done anything hostile or criminal, and approved $5,000 to the civilian’s brother but nothing for the Iraqi officer.