Hightower Lowdown

Bodies. Dead ones. Dead bodies are the harsh, horrifying, riveting reality of war.

That's why those who make war don't want you seeing the bodies, don't want you counting them or thinking about them. If you see, count, or think, you'll quickly question the war itself.

Thus, from the start of George W's disastrous Iraq war, the White House and Pentagon decreed that there could be no photos of America's dead returning from Iraq. The bodies arrive in the dark of night at a cordoned-off air-force base. The media establishment has cravenly submitted to this censorship of truth. Also, even though more than 2,800 Americans have died in Iraq, Bush has not honored them by attending a single funeral, for to do so would call attention to the bodies… and the real cost of his war.

Of course, Iraqi civilians comprise most of the dead, including children and old folks. Morgues and other sources report that the number of dead civilians has topped 40,000. Iraq's central government has now decreed that only it can release civilian death counts to the media.

Now, an independent statistical analysis, conducted by a team of American and Iraqi researchers connected to Johns Hopkins University's School of Public Health, estimates that more than 600,000 Iraqi civilians have died violently since Bush's 2003 invasion and occupation. The sight of dead bodies-- in the streets, in rivers, next door, on TV-- has come to be an everyday occurrence for Iraqis. This is a major reason that 82% of the people there want U.S. troops to leave.