Infectious Myth - Do we care about the deaths of others? With John Tirman - 07/22/14

In Episode 22 David talks with John Tirman, scholar and author of the 2011 book, “The Deaths of others: The fate of civilians in America’s wars”. This book attempts to quantify the number of civilians killed during recent major American wars – Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Tirman discusses the evidence that allow approximation of the vast scale of these deaths, by bombing, ancillary violence, the destruction of infrastructure, starvation, shooting by soldiers and a myriad of other causes. He discusses how household surveys can provide the most accurate information. In Iraq this estimated 600,000 Iraqi deaths (the majority civilian) by 2006.

 

Tirman also discusses the indifference of the American population to civilian deaths in these wars, and the resistance of pro-war forces inside and out of government to admit that any inordinate number of deaths occurs. Often there is a technique of focusing on minor flaws in the research, and trying to draw attention away from the big picture.

 

For more information on John Tirman, including the other books that he has written, see: http://www.johntirman.com.