War of the Politicians

The Swamp (Chicago Tribune newsblog) - October 11, 2006 - by FRANK JAMES - Bush may be right on Iraqi-deaths study

President Bush was asked at this morning’s news conference about the new, scientifically done public-health study that estimates that there have been more than 655,000 Iraqi civilian deaths since the U.S. invasion.

CNN reporter Suzanne Malveaux asked Bush if, in light of the study, he cared to amend the 30,000 figure he cited in December and if he considered the report “credible.”

Malveaux followed up by asking Bush “If you stand by your figure of 30,000.”

“I stand by the figure a lot of innocent people have lost their life,” Bush said. “600,000 or whatever they guessed at is not credible. Thank you.”

The president was quick to dismiss the study, which gave off the appearance that he wasn't approaching it with an open mind. And maybe he wasn't.

But he may be right to be skeptical. The president's skepticism no doubt had more to do with political necessity than anything else. Going into the mid-term elections with his party low in the polls, he doesn't want to give credence to anything that indicates the situation in Iraq could be far worse than he's been saying.

For their part, the researchers say they used well-tested statistical techniques that are actually used by the U.S. government, according to the Dr. Gilbert Burnham in a conference call he had with reporters this morning.

Burnham, who led the study, is co-director of the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“…Virtually all the information we have on developing countries on health status, on fertility issues, on HIV performance and risks and so forth, it all comes from the same methodology. So (these are) very standard methods. And I doubt anybody leaves a school of public health without knowing how to do this type of study.” full story

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Government

Capturing the world leaders by Hansadutta das

People in power look at the direction of the popular opinion. Really they put themselves at the mercy of the population. Democracy means from the bottom up. Autocracy means from top down. If you can capture the interest of the common man, then those on the top will have to cater to that interest in order to get their post. Capture a brilliant man by capturing first a thousand lunk heads. Preaching means tactical. We have to see which tactic is going to bring us the advantage. more

War on Civilians

Conversation with disciples, April 4, 1975, Mayapur

Prabhupada: Even some hundreds of years, it was so nice. Even there was war, they would not attack the farmers. Rather, they would ask, "Where the other party has gone?" So they will say: "Oh, we have seen some soldiers going this way." That's all. They were not affected. That was the principle. Farmers were not attacked, just like at the present moment, the law is the civilians are not attacked. The military target is attacked. That is the law. But they do all nonsense. Even at the present moment civilians are not attacked. Just like Kurukshetra Battle. It was taken far away from the civilian inhabitation.

Hansadutta: Some field.

Prabhupada: Yes. That is civilization. "Why these innocent civilians should be killed? Let us fight, military to military. That's all." That is honest fighting. We have to settle some things by fighting. So fighting may be, I mean to say, limited within the fighters, not with the civilians.

Ramesvara: In modern warfare it's...

Prabhupada: Why not? Yes. But they, they are so rascals, they throw bomb anywhere.

Tamala Krsna: Especially atom bomb.

Prabhupada: But one thing is that because civilians are also responsible for declaring war, because the parliament is the representation of the people...

Pusta Krsna: Karma.

Prabhupada: Therefore, now the war is between people to people, nation to nation. They support with men and money. So therefore they are also killed by nature's law.

No End in Sight

Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.26, November 30, 1972, Hyderabad

The warfare of the kshatriyas [military] and the warfare at the present moment of the whimsical politicians, it is, they are different. Formerly it was not democracy. Only the kshatriyas would fight. Especially the king, the royal order, they should come forward. Not that the politicians are sitting very comfortably at home, and poor people, they are given to fight in front of the enemy. No. That was not the system. The king must come forward. The other side, the king also come. And the opposite side, they also, he also should come forward and fight. It was duty. And as soon as the king is killed by the other party, then the other party becomes victorious. There was no more fighting. It is not the so-called king and president is sitting very comfortably and the poor soldiers, they are fighting unlimitedly, and the war is going on for many years. Just like last war we saw at least eight years it continued. Eight years, six years, no. The Battle of Kurukshetra, it was finished within eighteen days. There is no use of prolonging the war unnecessarily. If the chief man is killed, then war is finished.