Speculation

Brooke Gladstone with On the Media discusses the issue of civilian casualties in Iraq with Human Rights watcher Marc Garlasco. The dilemma is whether or not the fixation on accurate numbers takes away from the focus on why casualties keep rising, and how to stop all the dying. There have been different methodologies for gathering numbers and figuring out statistics, however many of them are quickly refuted from reasons such as skepticism on the way the numbers were computed or fast-tracking results because of the election.
According to Garlasco, it is not the issue of numbers, it is the fact that people are dying. If we get so consumed with what is accurate and how the data was collected, we will start losing sight of the real problem, and that is that countless innocent lives are being taken in Iraq. Gladstone responds saying that having numbers is crucial due to the fact that it has more of an impact on the public, and the media will then have a more solid thing to give the public hold on to. The point is that more people are dying in Iraq than what was imagined, and the numbers create a vivid picture of the direction this is headed. Gladstone brought up the fact that 50,000 people died in Vietnam, and today that stands for everything that went wrong with that war. Think about the fact that it has been estimated, including extreme opposite estimations, that between 8,000 and 190,000 people have already died in Iraq. Even if it is around 10,000, the lower estimation, that is a truly unreal amount of people to die if half the reason for going into those countries was to help those civilians establish a just government.
I assume that if there wasn’t organizations that counted bodies and watchdogged the war in Iraq, so many more avoidable casualties would occur. Nobody wants to be watched when they are doing something unjust or wrong. Human Rights Watch is here to protect human rights. In the words of the independent, non-government funded organization, “This publicity helps to embarrass abusive governments in the eyes of their citizens and the world.” HRW is made up of about 150 lawyers, journalists, academics, and a growing number of volunteers. The gist is that if you dedicate to equal human rights, accurate reporting, and network with individuals and groups around the world, then anything is possible. In order to avoid any government control, they don’t accept any government funding. Having the independence allows HRW to give information as it happens, how it happens. From creating a worldwide treaty that is successfully raising the minimum age for participation in armed conflict to 18, to having such accurate, extensive and in depth reporting that they have helped to convict genocidaires in Rwanda, HRW is beginning to change many things throughout the world.
It is important to hear citizens that work for citizens, people that work for the people, humans that work for humanity. They are us, we are them. We aren’t the government. All we have to worry about is our rights, not conflict of interest worries that hinder factual journalism, no decisions about things that may hurt business relationships... It is so important to join in and speak with the voice that represents us, and to remember that each human being deserves the same rights as the next. If injustices continue, it is only so long that we, perfectly privileged Americans, will have our rights trampled as well.