WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

[Caciss]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/data...aq-deaths-map?

[Denmo]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

Hey look, they're scattered about if I'm zoomed in, but concentrated in certain areas if I zoom out! THIS MEANS SOMETHING....

[Caciss]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

Are you mocking this?

[Hrafn]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

Well....that was twenty seconds of my life wasted. Thanks a pantload.

[Denmo]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

Are you mocking this?

There's lots of dots. There's no debate there. And that every dot is a death does mean something and is shocking/depressing. But plotting them on a map doesn't really do much else except tell us where most of the fighting was, none of which - if you were following the news regularly over the past few years - comes as a surprise.

[Hrafn]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

Ditto. If I felt like breaking out my handy street map of Baghdad this might mean something to me, but darn it all, I left it in my who gives a damn. The how and why of their deaths matters. The where, not so much.

[Caciss]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

I just think the map is pretty surreal, and a very direct and relatable representation of every death caused by the conflict.

BUT HEY GUESS NO ONE CARES

also is there a way I can ban hrafn from any topic I ever make?

[Toaster]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

You guys are callous as hell.

[Denmo]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

I just think the map is pretty surreal, and a very direct and relatable representation of every death caused by the conflict.

BUT HEY GUESS NO ONE CARES

How is it relatable if you've never been to Iraq?

I care about people dying, but A: it happens every day, B: it's part of life, C: it's part of a war I disagree with but am unable to do anything about aside from vote for people who, when they decide to stop lying, might on an off chance be able to put an end to these terrible things.

You guys are callous as hell.

Yes.

[Caciss]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

Not like I'm expected you to have some crazy revelation here Denethor, just find it a very interesting way to look at the deaths in Iraq over a list of names.

And it's relatable because I live on earth.

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

Well, the obvious solution here would be if everybody stopped fighting.

[Sejon]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

Isn't this particularly relatable in the sense that it's our governments (funded by the American and British taxpayer) that are directly responsible for this handiwork, though? You know, as opposed to all the civil wars across Africa, for instance.

Sure, it's just a map, and that in itself might not be of much significance, but it does serve as a good visual perspective of the death toll.

[Loki]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

It seems you guys are missing the point. Here's what the map represents: On Friday WikiLeaks released the Iraq War Logs, a document of 391,832 reports made by soldiers on the ground that had been classified by the government. These are reports of the various conflicts and significant actions that tell the story of the war. Where they happened may not be of particular interest to you, but these revelations about the war should be:

• "The reports detail 109,032 deaths in Iraq, comprised of 66,081 'civilians'; 23,984 'enemy' (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 'host nation' (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 'friendly' (coalition forces). The majority of the deaths (66,000, over 60%) of these are civilian deaths. That is 31 civilians dying every day during the six year period."
• "US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished."
• "A US helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender."
• "The war in Iraq spawned a reliance on private contractors on a scale not well recognized at the time and previously unknown in American wars. The documents describe an outsourcing of combat and other duties once performed by soldiers that grew and spread to Afghanistan to the point that there are more contractors there than soldiers."

Basically, the map is a visual representation of the secret history of the Iraqi War. It is hugely significant and already historically important. Amnesty International is demanding an investigation into how much military commanders knew of torture that was reported in the leak, and there has been talk of how this is compelling evidence of war crimes committed by the Bush administration.

But hay it's just a map good thing we don't live in Iraq lol

[Caciss]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

THANKS BRO

[Nixon]

Re: WikiLeaks Iraq Death Map

It's sad that it takes this kind of effort to get the truth out. I'm sure someone in this country is happy with the results, though. Certain businesses made lots of money, and that's all that matters to the people in power.

All of this just makes me more ashamed to be an American, even though I was against this BS "war" before it started. I really hope that someday we'll stop doing everything the "Max Power" way.