Civilian casualties

A lot of adult civilians have been blasted out of their homes and their neighborhoods and their cars. More and more every day. According to U.N. Development Fund for Women, 15 percent of wartime casualties in World War I were civilians. In World War II, 65 percent were civilians. By the mid '90s, over 75 percent of wartime casualties were civilians. In Iraq, for every dead U.S. soldier, there are 14 other deaths, 93 percent of them are civilian.

From: Brecher, Jeremy, Cutler , Jill, Smith, Brendan, In the Name of Democracy, pp. 203 - 205, What the Rest of the World Watched on Inauguration Day by Sister Joan Chittister

Originally appeared in the National Catholic Reporter, January 27, 2005.
Copyright © 2005 by Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B.

In Lebanon almost all dead and wounded are civilians including many children and women. When this madness comes to an end we might find out the true cost in human lives but it's a safe prediction that almost a hundred percent of the vicitms are civilians. (In Israel too but their numbers are tiny compared to Lebanon.)

Added July 24th:

A recent report by the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq estimated that 5,818 people were killed in violence in Iraq during May and June - an average of more than 100 civilians per day.