(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"The Norwegian soldiers in the area always have an overview of the situation and do not expose themselves to danger. If the security situation dictates, the Norwegian force will stay inside the camp. "
Whether it is this strategy – disseminated in the Norwegian Iraqi force's diary online – that is the reason, is not good to say. But the fact is that it has been almost four months since the government decided to send Norwegian soldiers to Iraq – and so far none of them have lost their lives.
The question is how long the Norwegians have been on their side. Because from all sides of occupied Iraq, reports of civilians and soldiers being killed are flowing in.
Killed soldiers
Much of the focus has been on the killings of American soldiers. During the war, 114 American soldiers were killed. After President George W. Bush declared that the war was over on May 1, more than 150 soldiers have been killed.
And the curve points upwards; by far the bloodiest week for Americans after the "victory", was the first week in November, when 37 soldiers were killed.
Despite the fact that the British have command of southern Iraq, where Saddam Hussein's biggest victims – the Shia Muslims – are in the vast majority, they have also noticed that the war is not over; 12 Britons have been killed since May 1.
The Danes, who, like the Norwegians, are under British command in the southern sector, have lost a soldier – albeit under so-called "friendly fire".
Just over a week ago, the first Pole – an officer – was killed in the Polish sector, which lies between the British sector around Basra in the south and the American sector around Baghdad in central Iraq.
And on Wednesday, a bomb hit the Italian police headquarters in Nassiriya; at least 23 were killed, 14 of them military personnel from Italy.
50.000 killed?
However, the loss of human lives by foreign occupation forces is only blueberry to account for Iraq's loss and suffering.
A recent report by the Medact and Doctors Against Nuclear Weapons organizations in the United Kingdom estimates that between 21.700 and 55.000 people have been killed as a result of the Iraq war, according to Nettavisen.
Of these, between 13.500 and 45.000 Iraqi military, as well as 394 occupying soldiers, have been killed until the end of October.
According to the report, which is based on available figures from sources in and outside Iraq, between 7800 and 9600 Iraqi civilians have died in the same period.
10.000 killed civilians
The latter estimate is taken from The Iraq Body Count Project, an international project that aims to record all civilian deaths as a result of the war against Iraq and the ensuing occupation.
The overview, which is updated daily online, now shows that between 7840 and 9668 civilians Iraqis have been killed since the invasion began on March 20.
Iraq Body Count builds on the same method used by US professor Marc Herold in his registration of killed civilians: an independent and comprehensive public database of civilian killings that has been reported in international newspapers and media.
The database shows how many civilians have been killed when, where and by what weapons, as well as which media have reported the incident.
Baghdad chaos
Recently, Iraq Body Count also published a study showing that over 1500 civilians died in occupied Baghdad as a result of the collapse of law and order.
According to figures they have collected from Baghdad's morgue, 2846 civilians were registered with a violent cause of death in the period April 14 to August 31 this year.
Corrected by "normal" figures for the number killed in the years before the war, it shows an increase in civilian killings of at least 1519. Or; an average of 28 violent deaths per day after US occupation compared to 10 per day before the war.
According to Iraq Body Count, this supports the many testimonies that the violence and loss of civilian life in Baghdad has skyrocketed due to the lack of law and order after the US took over and occupied the city.
The diary
Against this violent backdrop, the Norwegian soldiers have so far lived a peaceful life in and around Basra. It was on 27 June this summer that the government decided that Norway should participate in the "stabilization force" in Iraq.
The day before, the first party of Norwegian military personnel traveled to Iraq to camp in the airport area outside Basra. A month later, on July 24, the 150-man Norwegian Iraqi force was placed under British command.
Since the force came to Iraq, they have written every day about their experiences posted on the Defense Network.
The diary shows that much of the soldiers' time has been spent clearing mines, building bridges and camp life on the shooting range and football field.
stone throwing
However, a few episodes have been, the most serious when one of the Norwegian officers was slightly injured when the car he put in triggered an explosive charge in early August.
And a few weeks later, the Norwegian force saw the locals throw stones at military vehicles.
But, as the diary states: One day the Norwegian force's interpreter talked to the village chief about the problems, after which the chief ordered an immediate stand of the stone throwing.
"It proves that it helps to communicate with the people of Iraq, something the Norwegian force emphasizes in its work," the diary concludes.
Chemical Ali
The diary also reveals that the Norwegian force is far from just clearing mines and playing football games against the British soldiers, and that they are involved in activities that can easily make them targets for the opponents of the occupation.
The Norwegian soldiers run an escort business that includes both Britons and Americans (an escort business that extends all the way to the Polish sector in Iraq), they build bridges together with American soldiers, they have conducted searches at the so-called "Chemical Ali", and they assist the British patrolling rivers.
The "humanitarian" side of the Norwegian engagement now seems so diluted that it should not surprise anyone if Norwegian soldiers are the next to be sent home in coffins.
