WTC's history, but world continues to bleed

[Guest guest]

WTC's history, but world continues to bleed

 

Ajay Jindal

ET INTELLIGENCE GROUP

THE BOOMERS lost it in the Vietnam war. The bubblegummers

have lost it now, after Terror Tuesday. As America comes to grips

with its `loss of innocence', even a quick look at some cruel

figures shows that most of the world lost its innocence -— and

millions of lives -— long ago.

 

Attacks on humanity are probably as old as the civilisations

which have weathered them. And not much has changed over

the centuries. Numbers put together by ET Intelligence Group on

war casualties in the 20th century indicate that at least 3 per cent

of all deaths most likely ocurred in wars.

 

Figures available from various internet sites suggest that at least

100m people died from the largest, documented wars of the last

century (see table). This figure takes into account only some

large wars, where data is easily available. If one adds deaths

from some authoritarian regimes — Stalin's rule, Pol Pot's reign

or even China during the Cultural Revolution — this figure could

easily cross 5 per cent.

 

Of these, about 85 per cent died in the two World Wars. The

figures include civilian casualties as well as military deaths. It

appears that the ratio of civilian deaths to military deaths has

been coming down over time, though it can vary, depending on

the situation. Most studies put military deaths in WW I at 8.5m.

Estimates are that two civilians died for every military person in

that war.

 

There's some solace for the 21st century, however. The use of

modern technology, at least from the statistics, seems to show

that it does reduce both the number of civilian deaths, as well as

military casualties.

 

The largest war-related annihilation of humans occurred during

WW II. Close to 60m people are reported to have been killed in

those five dark years. Here again, the share of military deaths is

believed to be about a third, while about 13m-20m died in the

Holocaust.

 

Consider all the wars that the US has been involved in.

Historically, the US has lost much fewer numbers to war than

other countries. In all the wars in the 20th century, the US is

reported to have lost about 450,000 military personnel and

perhaps an equal number of civilians.

 

One major reason is that unlike in most other parts of the world,

including Europe, which bore the brunt of the world wars, none of

the American wars have been waged on its own continent. Also,

its superior military and abundant resources have always given

America the cutting edge.

 

And yes, technology does have a profound effect on war

casualties. The war statistics of the Gulf War in 1991, fought by

the Americans with all the latest gizmos, shows that the US

military has definitely reduced its own casualty rates through

better technology.

 

Only 166 were reported dead from the US (and allies) side in the

Gulf war. Technology has reportedly helped reduce civilian

deaths as well. Of the one lakh deaths on the Iraqi side, civilians

may have only been about 60,000.