How much is a life worth?

How much is a life worth, that’s the question and the US government in Iraq, thinks it has the answer. Obviously with any war there will be what is called collateral damage that is the damage to buildings and the loss of life of innocents. The US military in Iraq knows this all too well although some of the incidents that have occurred are not quite in that definition.

The Army, on a daily basis answers claims made by Iraqi citizens regarding losses of property and losses of life. After an incident has occurred where an “accident” may have happened the soldiers leave a claim card with victims that tells them how to file a claim for compensation. This process is anything but perfect operating in the lawless vacuum that is Iraq, where the military appears to not be accountable to anyone. In all so far the US has paid 32 million dollars worth of these claims, and this does not include condolence payments that are made on the decision of unit commanders. In its grand wisdom, the US military has decided that an Iraqi life is worth 2500.00 and includes no admission of guilt or admission of fault. Just pay the man and he will go away seems to be the line of thinking.

In some cases that have been deemed “combat cases” innocent civilians have been killed while doing things such as fishing and the majority appear to be related to confusion at checkpoints. In one case a brother and sister were killed after the military dumped 200 rounds of ammo into their car for doing something as vague as “approaching the checkpoint to quickly” this claim was actually one of the highest paying, the military shelling out 10,000.00 to the victims family. In this case the soldiers were found to violate the rules of engagement. In the case of the fisherman who was killed, was shot for leaning over to turn of his boats engine after holding up fish and yelling “fish, fish!” The military in this case compensated the victim’s family for his boat and equipment which drifted down river and were stolen, but did not compensate for the loss of life. In this case, it was deemed “combat activity”, that’s a hell of a combat situation, man in boat v. men with guns.

Take a long look at actions in Iraq, from the cheapening of a life to the heavy handed tactics used in patrols of evicting families from their homes for up to 48hrs to use as operations bases. This is not how you make friends which is a key to winning this war, the old philosophy of “winning hearts and minds”. None of these actions would be acceptable in the US, the deaths would be subject to lengthy and likely multi million dollar wrongful death suits and if you refer to the third amendment you will see that the quartering of soldiers in such a manner would not be allowed. The war is going in the wrong direction and has been for years, the troop surge won’t work and if you listen to the politicians, at least the ones in power, there is no plan B. The answer to this problem is diplomatic, not military and until we and the Iraqi government realize this, there will be no progress.