2004–11–04–2

100,000 Iraqi civilian casualties follow-up

Stephen Soldz has an excellent article regarding the recently released study of Iraqi civilian casualties: 100,000 Iraqis Dead: Should We Believe It?:

So, how many Iraqis have died since the invasion in March 2003 and the subsequent occupation and war? The United States has repeatedly insisted that it doesn’t keep track of civilian deaths. In the infamous words of General Tommy Franks, “We don’t do body counts”[2] (though, claims remain that the US does do secret body counts[3]). Furthermore, when the Iraqi health Ministry attempted to count civilian deaths, they were summarily ordered to stop by the US occupation authorities.[4]

While the US military and occupation authorities may profess a lack of interest in Iraqi civilian deaths, decent people around the world are concerned to know whether Iraqis have died post-invasion at rates that would substantially undermine any alleged humanitarian benefit of the war.