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The bodies in person : an account of civilian casualties in American wars / Nick McDonell.

by McDonell, Nick, 1984- author.

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New York : Blue Rider Press, [2018]

Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Casualties.

Civilian war casualties -- Iraq.

Afghan War, 2001-2021 -- Casualties.

Civilian war casualties -- Afghanistan.

Battle casualties -- United States -- History.

9780735211575 :

291 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

The classy hotel -- Civil defense. Attempt to reach civilians trapped in West Mosul ; Correspondence (I) ; Excavation of bodies off Pepsi Road ; Correspondence (II) -- Allies. Iraqi Special Forces and the al-Jadida airstrike ; Crazy Horse ; The Afghan National Army and the security of Outpost Shamalan, Helmand ; Correspondences (III) -- Operations. The targeting and killing of a Helmandi combatant ; Correspondence (IV) -- Numbers. Revelation in Pleasantville of anticipated civilian casualties ; The U.S. Civilian Casualty Mitigation Team ; Sar Baghni and the deadliest civilian casualty incident to date ; Official spokesman ; Record keeping in the emergency room of the Baghdad Teaching Hospital ; Definition of the non-combatant casualty cutoff value ; Correspondence (V) -- Solatia. Dirt worship ; Provision of tents and staples to the bereaved ; Notes on security ; Compensation for injuries caused by U.S. forces -- Theories ; Rescue of a child from an Islamic State massacre -- Arguments for reform of the non-combatant casualty cutoff value. The morning brief ; Strikes through history ; Origins of this account ; The unavoidable question.

Presents the story of civilians who have died as a result of America's recent wars, introducing some of those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rescue workers who tried to save them, and the American soldiers coming to terms with their deaths.

"Since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, uncounted thousands of civilians have died in the fighting, and as a result of the destruction. These are deaths for which no one assumes responsibility, and which have been presented, historically, as fallout. No one knows their true number. In [this book], Nick McDonell introduces us to some of the civilians who died, along with the rescue workers who tried to save them, U.S. soldiers grappling with their deaths, and everyone in between. He shows us how decent Americans, inside and outside the government and military, looked away from the mounting death toll, even as they claimed to do everything in their power to prevent civilian casualties. With a novelist's eye--and hundreds of hours of recorded interviews--McDonell brings us the untold story of the innocent dead in America's ongoing wars, from leveled cities to drone operation centers to Capitol back rooms. As we follow him around the world, The Bodies in Person raises questions not only about what it means to be an American, but about the value of a life, what it means to risk one, and what is owed afterward."--Dust jacket.

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