This study put the figure (its best estimate) at 650,000 excess deaths - with 600,000 being due to violence.

The second study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in January 2008 claims that the number of excess violent deaths from the invasion until sometime in 2006 was around 150,000.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMsa0707782

Both this and the Lancet study relied on household surveys. I don't understand how it is that they can vary by a factor of four, each claiming that the other's result is extremely unlikely.

The third study was conducted by the British polling agency "Opinion Research Business" also made a survey of households in Summer 2007 and came up with a figure of 1.2 million.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-iraq14sep14,1,1207545.story

http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=78

So here we have three studies (albeit with the third including one more year than the previous two) which vary in their estimates by almost an order of magnitude. How do we properly discern which are the proper figures? Any of the three is a tragedy.

Posted March 25, 2008 | Comments? (0)