According to the BBC, the researcher behind the Lancet’s controversial report on the number of deaths following the Iraq invasion – which claimed it was five times higher than the Iraqi health ministry’s estimates – has failed to supply even ‘basic facts’ to back up his claims.
In 2006, Gilbert Burnham claimed in the Lancet medical journal that 650,000 people had died following the 2003 war. The Iraqi health ministry estimated 100,000 – 150,000, which is on the same ballpark as The independent Iraq Body Count, which, says the BBC, “counts only confirmed deaths, currently has a range of between 90,556 and 98,850.”
It’s horrible to quibble over numbers when each death is a tragedy, not a statistic, but to put it into perspective, 100,000 is about the same as the number of murders in South Africa in the same period. The StWC whipped up even more hysteria by doubling the Lancet’s disputed figures and claiming over a million deaths. If you find the word ‘hysteria’ distasteful, ask yourself why the StWC and similar organisations needed to state the death toll at over ten times the official figure.
It is also worth noting that the hundreds of people who die every week – and have been consistantly for several years – in Iraq are victims not of the “occupying forces” but of the so-called resistance.
Be that as it may, it is nevertheless interesting that neither Burnham nor the Lancet seem to be able to put up a very spirited defence of his research.