Counting the Lebanon dead not so easy [China on the job, counting easier in Seattle]

Seattle PI ^ | 8-3-06 | STEVEN R. HURST AND SAM F. GHATTAS

[SJackson]

Chinese United Nations soldiers watch as heavy equipment is used to dig for bodies under the rubble of a home that was hit in an Israeli missile strike in the village of Qana, east of the port city of Tyre, in a Monday, July 31, 2006 file photo. Human Rights Watch and news organizations which initially reported that 54 or more civilians died in an Israeli airstrike July 31, 2006 in the southern Lebanese village of Qana. But a re-examination Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006, indicated there were 28 deaths. Human Rights Watch said it discovered the discrepancy as part of a larger investigation of civilian deaths in Lebanon. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer, File)

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- In the rocky hills and isolated villages of southern Lebanon, counting the dead from Israeli airstrikes and artillery has become a dangerous and often imprecise task.

The Israeli bombing of Qana became a textbook case Thursday when a new look at the civilian death toll in this week's Israeli airstrike showed it was about half the initial report.

The numbers of dead have become especially important to Israel and Lebanon, as well as to Hezbollah, in the battle for world opinion. With reported Lebanese civilian deaths running at about 20 for each Israeli killed in Hezbollah missile strikes, Lebanon would appear to have the upper hand.

The Qana casualties were re-examined after Human Rights Watch issued a report late Wednesday saying 28 people died in the village Sunday after Israeli jets hit it - not 54 as the New York-based organization initially reported in the immediate aftermath of the attack. At the time, The Associated Press reported 56 were dead.

"I've worked for Human Rights Watch for a decade. This is one of the most difficult conflicts to cover," said Peter Bouckaert, director of emergencies for the organization.

"It's very hard and dangerous to reach many of these places," he said of the sites of airstrikes. "So, we often have to rely on phone calls to the mayor and officials to get this kind of information."

The southern village of Srifa provides another example of the difficulty of getting hard facts. On July 19, Lebanese media reported 25 to 30 people were believed to have been in 15 houses destroyed in an airstrike. Their fate remains unknown, and the casualties have not been added to the AP's count.

Even in far safer and more organized environments, death tolls often decrease dramatically, some over long periods of time.

Two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the official count of the dead peaked at about 6,700 amid confusion and calls to authorities from frantic relatives. A year later, that number dropped to 2,792. And in January 2004, the New York City medical examiner put the final number of those killed at 2,749.

Human Rights Watch said it had discovered the discrepancy in the Qana count as part of a larger investigation of all civilian deaths in Lebanon. The bombardment of Qana and pictures of dead children pulled from the wreckage led to an international uproar.

The base line for the Qana death count was a list of 63 people who local officials said had taken refuge in the building that was hit by Israeli jets. After the attack, 27 bodies were taken to the government hospital in the southern port city of Tyre. Nine people were known to have survived, and the remaining 27 were reported dead - buried under the rubble of the three-story structure. That resulted in the Human Rights Watch initial report of 54 dead.

The Lebanese Red Cross gave a figure of 56 at the time, which AP used in its reports. An AP reporter counted 27 bodies on the day of the bombing at the hospital in Tyre.

The Human Rights Watch second look at the figures showed that 28 were known dead - the 27 originally killed and one wounded person who died. The organization was able to account for 22 survivors, leaving 13 people unaccounted for of the 63 people reported in the building at the time of the attack.

The initial toll of 54 included those missing immediately after the attack, but Human Rights Watch now says it does not believe the 13 people who remain unaccounted for were killed.

"Families of the missing aren't sure where those 13 people are. It is possible there still is someone buried under the rubble ... but recovery teams are skeptical" of that, Bouckaert told AP.

When asked about the death toll figures on Thursday, George Kitane, head of Lebanese Red Cross paramedics, also said 28 people, including 19 children, had been confirmed killed. He said the organization had been told bodies remain under the rubble, "but we will need bulldozers for such work."

Civil defense official Abdel-Raouf Jradi, who was in charge of the rescue operation, confirmed Thursday that 27 bodies were taken to the Tyre hospital from Qana that day. All the bodies were identified; they included 15 children under age 12, including a 9-month-old baby. A 95-year-old man also was among the dead.

The discrepancy in the Red Cross and civil defense figures could not be explained.

With the revised totals from Qana, the AP count shows at least 520 Lebanese have been killed since the fighting began three weeks ago, including 449 civilians confirmed dead by the Health Ministry, 25 Lebanese soldiers and at least 50 Hezbollah guerrillas. Four of the civilians were reported dead Thursday in airstrikes. Hezbollah also reported four deaths, but did not say when the fighters were killed.

AP assembles its count based on information from the Lebanese Health Ministry, but adds victims not counted by those officials but confirmed dead by reporters, families and police in remote regions. The Health Ministry only counts bodies that reach morgues.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said that more than 900 civilians have been killed and 3,000 wounded.

When his office was asked to amplify on the statement, it referred a caller to a Web site run by the Higher Relief Council. It put the number of dead civilians at 860.

The council is part of the Lebanese prime minister's office and deals with calamities. It assembles numbers of dead and wounded from the Health Ministry, the police and other state agencies.

Many deaths are not reported to the Health Ministry - for example when victims are quickly and privately buried with no official involvement. The Higher Relief Council number, however, does include some of those figures when they are reported by police.

On the Israeli side, the government and army have confirmed 68 dead - 41 soldiers as well as 27 civilians killed in Hezbollah rocket attacks.

The Israeli casualty count was believed more reliable, given the smaller numbers involved, the care its army takes in accounting for soldiers and the greater organization of its fighting force and civilian structures.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.

also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

I'm pleased the Chinese are on the job. This isn't something you'd want to trust to western infidels.

[phoenix0468]

The Israeli bombing of Qana became a textbook case Thursday when a new look at the civilian death toll in this week's Israeli airstrike showed it was about half the initial report.

Typical terrorist, in cooperation with the MSM, tactic of exagerations and lies.

[NorCalRepub]

yup....in Qana there is a big difference between "58 innocent woman and children"......AND...."20 odd invalid children planted my Hezzbolah in the basement" after firing rockets from the vicinity to stage the act.....a big difference....

[observer5]

FAKE BUT ACCURATE

[phoenix0468]

ROFLMAO!!!

[D-fendr]

With reported Lebanese civilian deaths running at about 20 for each Israeli killed… Lebanon would appear to have the upper hand.

In BizarroWorld.

[claudiustg]

---When asked about the death toll figures on Thursday, George Kitane, head of Lebanese Red Cross paramedics, also said 28 people, including 19 children, had been confirmed killed. He said the organization had been told bodies remain under the rubble, "but we will need bulldozers for such work."

Civil defense official Abdel-Raouf Jradi, who was in charge of the rescue operation, confirmed Thursday that 27 bodies were taken to the Tyre hospital from Qana that day. All the bodies were identified; they included 15 children under age 12, including a 9-month-old baby. A 95-year-old man also was among the dead.

The discrepancy in the Red Cross and civil defense figures could not be explained.---

Souvenir?