[richlevy]

Originally Posted by sycamore

I didn't realize that Kerry was a communist...wow...that's news to me.

Not only that, but the 100 million people is an interesting figure. Of course, the other two reasons to fight wars are capiltalistic and religious. Stalin as the world's premier communist probably accounts for most of that total, although China and North Korea have done their share.

It is generally agreed by historians that if famines, prison and labour camp mortality, and state terrorism (deportations and political purges) are taken into account, Stalin and his colleagues were directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of millions. How many millions died under Stalin is greatly disputed. Although no official figures have been released by the Soviet or Russian governments, most estimates put the figure between 8 and 20 million. Comparison of the 1926-39 census results suggests 5-10 million deaths in excess of what would be normal in the period, mostly through famine in 1931-34. The 1926 census shows the population of the Soviet Union at 147 million while the 1939 census at 162 million. (Another census from 1937 is known as the "wrecker's census"; its figures were suppressed.) The highest death estimates are 50 million from the 1920s to 1950s, but they are probably greatly exaggerated.

I found this resource totaling death tolls from wars and other conflicts. If we try to total the results by the political/economic system of the aggressor or stated reason, we would find that monarchies and religion are also to blame for millions of deaths. In fact, you will find that many nations, including the US, are built on the suffering and deaths of neighbors, indigenous populations, or slaves. I would like to see an estimate of Native American and slave casualties in the US from 1600-1900.

Communism is probably more susceptible to famine than capitalism, but I'm sure there were deaths during the Great Depression in the US due to famine. Noone was really to blame for the Spanish Flu Pandemic, which killed 21 million worldwide and about 850,000 in the US.

We also do not know at this point how many civilians in Iraq we have killed in order to liberate them or who have died from starvation or disease due to the collapse of the Iraqi infrastructure as a direct result of the war and inadequate reconstruction. So I do find it ironic in Bush supporters bringing up the topic of 'death tolls'.