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The
report said the U.S. will spend 200 billion U.S. dollars or more
executing the war
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SYDNEY,
November 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A conventional war in
Iraq could kill nearly 500,000 people, with the death toll shooting to
four millions if nuclear weapons are used, a group of anti-war doctors
said Tuesday, November 12.
A
report issued by the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW)
said the loss of life in the first three months of a U.S.-led attack
on Iraq would range from a minimum of 48,000 to more than 260,000
people, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
study compiled by medical and public health experts around the world
and titled “Collateral Damage: the Health and Environmental Costs of
War on Iraq” estimated the post-war health fallout from the conflict
could claim another 200,000 lives.
If
nuclear weapons were detonated, the death toll could reach four
million, said the study issued at the Australian parliament early
Tuesday and to be released later in the day in London and Washington.
The
report examined various options for military action and predicted that
up to 5,000 soldiers from a U.S.-led coalition sent in to disarm the
regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would die in the fighting.
By
comparison, in the Gulf War of the early 1990s some 120,000 Iraqi
soldiers and 15,000 civilians were killed, the MAPW estimated, saying
a new war would be far deadlier.
The
United States has warned it will attack Iraq if Saddam does not comply
quickly with a U.N. resolution ordering him to allow international
inspectors to search for and destroy any weapons of mass destruction
in the country.
U.S.
newspapers this week reported leaked Pentagon plans for an invasion of
Iraq with up to 250,000 U.S. and allied troops.
Australia
and Britain are expected to join any U.S.-led action against Iraq,
which is suspected of trying to develop nuclear arms alongside other
weapons of mass destruction.
The
MAPW report said the United States would spend 200 billion U.S.
dollars or more executing the war and on post-conflict occupation of
Iraq.
“This
report at least deserves a response from those who advocate war
against Iraq,” said Sue Wareham of the MAPW.
She
urged Australian Prime Minister John Howard to read the report before
deciding to join a fight in Iraq.
“If
Prime Minister Howard already understands the human effect of modern
warfare, then he has a responsibility to justify to the Australian
people our likely involvement in this carnage,” she said.
“If
he does not understand, then this report is essential reading for him.
But let him not pretend he just doesn’t know.”
