The range of figures from different groups I have seen is from 1.5 million to 7.5 million deaths. I suspect the higher figures have more to do with irresponsible scare tactics and fundraising hyperbole, but even the lowest figure of 1.5 million is grotesque and a crime against humanity.
I would use the lower figure for a newspaper to avoid a challenge to the figures.
-Chip
----- Original Message ----- From: "Carrol Cox" <cbcox at ilstu.edu> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>; <pen-l at galaxy.csuchico.edu>; "Discussions on the Socialist Register and its articles" <SOCIALIST-REGISTER at yorku.ca> Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 12:41 PM Subject: Query -- [Fwd: Does anybody in this country get it?]
> How firm -- dependable -- is this description (below) of the situation
> in Afghanistan. I'm tentatively planning on making it the core of a
> letter to the local newspaper (letter limit 300 words). And while I'm
> quite willing to be wrong, in fact believe it is crucial to push
> strongly enough that one risks being wrong, still I don't want to
> suggest the possibility of millions of deaths if it isn't going to come
> even close to that.
>
> Any comments?
>
> Carrol
>
> http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11855
> The Coming Apocalypse
> Geov Parrish, WorkingForChange.com
> November 5, 2001
>
> Does anybody in this country get it?
>
>
> Does anybody understand what the United States is on the verge of doing?
>
>
> Experienced, respected food aid organizations warn that even before the
> bombing of Afghanistan began on October 7, some 7,500,000 Afghans were
> -- through a gut-wrenching combination of poverty, drought, war,
> dislocation, and repression -- at risk of starving to death this winter.
> When the bombing began, almost all delivery of food from the outside
> world stopped. Now, roads and bridges are destroyed, millions more
> people are dislocated, and the snow is steadily approaching from higher
> elevations and from the north.
>
>
> For weeks, aid organizations, along with voices from throughout the
> region, have been begging the United States to call off its bombing
> campaign, at least for long enough so that aid agencies can conduct the
> massive transfer of food into and throughout Afghanistan that is
> necessary to prevent death on a scale the world has not seen in a long,
> long time. On our newscasts, it's politely referred to as a
> "humanitarian crisis." That's a euphemism that makes "collateral damage"
> seem humane.
>
>
> Seven and a half million people at risk of dying in a matter of months.
>
> [clip]