The public health experts, writing in a statement being published by the British Medical Journal, said the number was unreliable because it did not include deaths in the first year after the U.S.-led invasion and did not take into account nonviolent deaths caused indirectly by the war or those not reported to the health care system.
The Lancet medical journal estimated in October that 98,000 more civilians had been killed in Iraq since the outbreak of hostilities in March 2003 than would otherwise have been expected to die.
Idiots on Parade...
There they go, citing the Lancet study again. I thought that we had lanced that particular boil?
bump for later reading
Why don't they go and count how many innocent lives the terrorist scum they have such an affection for have slaughtered? Or better yet, how many people Saddam would have tortured/raped/killed in the period had he still been in control of Iraq?
And how many have died under the tender care of the
NHS?
Hmmmm.....
I understand perfectly why, from an "Information Operations"/PSYOPS standpoint, we have been reluctant to release any Iraqi casualty figures. The theme we've been trying to get across is that this is not a war against the Iraqi people, and that theme is compromised if we give casualty reports, even on the bad guys (who will inevitably be lumped in with the innocents by our press pals). Sometimes I'm sure it is tempting to crow about the bad guy body count, especially when so much attention is focused on the number of American dead, but why give our enemies grist for their propaganda mill?
I do not understand how the incidental deaths in Iraq are a subject for "public health experts" to rule upon.
These people are stupid. Even more stupid are those who give them credibility on this matter when it has nothing to do with their expertise.
I'm thoroughly uninterested in pandering to the prejudices of the left. Blair apparently shares this view. "Sod off" is the only decent reply to these fools.
Regards, Ivan
The Iraqis were much better off under the sanctions, 'oil for food' and Saddam's security forces. They had plenty of food, medicine and freedom. Back then, no innocent people suffered, and Iraq was a happy, idyllic community of tolerance. Religious and ethnic diversity was celebrated. Women were equal partners with men. The air and water was cleaner, happy little birds were singing, and Saddam gave out free ice cream all day long.
And we screwed it up! Next thing you know, the evil transnational cabal of Zionist Freemasons will snap their fingers, the Chimp will get his marching orders and make us ruin the invincible, glorious workers paradise of North Korea.
< / l i b e r a l >
(Okay, so I tried to get into the liberal mindset on this one. Thinking like a liberal is surprisingly easy. You just turn off your brain, and let your paranoid delusions frolic!)