Persistent, pervasive and pernicious: the '100,000 Civilians Dead' Canard
Oh That Liberal Media
On the 2nd anniversary of the liberation of Iraq from tyranny, it should come as no surprise that every anti-American hate site and blog is recycling the discredited claims by the Lancet Journal that 100,000 civilians have died because of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Such mentions take predictably dogmatic form:
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The best estimate of the number of Iraqi civilian deaths caused by the war- 100,000- was published six months ago by Johns Hopkins and Columbia University researchers. By this two-year anniversary, the number will have increased to around 133,000. Proportional to population, that's as if 1.5 million American citizens had been killed.
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It's troubling to see how frequently this meaningless and distorted projection appears in the mainstream media, especially in op-eds by leftist commentators. As this propaganda becomes firmly entrenched in the public consciousness, the ubiquity of the false figure is approaching crisis levels.
Two days ago I attended a Seattle community forum called "Veterans Reflect on the Iraq War," featuring Terry Thomas, a Marine lieutenant who had served in the initial push into Iraq, Josh Rushing, from CENTCOM, and John Oliviera, a naval press officer.
The veterans were diverse in their position on the war: Thomas described his moral clarity in favor of it growing from meeting families in the Marshes of the south who had each lost a family member to murders by the fedayeen, and seeing Hussein's torture facilities. Rushing was optimistic about the Middle East's reforms but thought more could have been done to avoid war and to engage the Arab media, and Oliviera felt the administration had lied and let the troops down.
Questions from the audience referred to the Lancet's figure. "Even though they're voting, how can you justify killing 100,000?" or "Don't you feel angry that you were a part of killing 100,000 people for a lie, for oil?" The vets could have refuted the premise of those questions, if only the myth begun in October last year had been more effectively, dedicatedly debunked by journalists and the DoD. They seemed caught off-guard by this, even the anti-war vet didn't seem to believe it, but didn't know how to contend with the claim.
The administration acts as though it's ignoring this problem, hoping it will go away. It doesn't appear it will....
From a March 15th CBS op-ed from The Nation:
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It would also be a mistake to conclude that the [Lebanon] revolution in any way vindicates or legitimizes the U.S. invasion of Iraq -- the costs of which, as the occupation approaches the end of its second year, include 1,500 U.S. troops and 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead and at least $200 billion spent....
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From yesterday's Guardian:
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Twenty-four experts from the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, Spain and Italy say the attitude of the governments is "wholly irresponsible"...
Their hard-hitting statement, published online by the British Medical Journal, comes nearly five months after the Lancet published a household survey of civilian deaths in Iraq which estimated that about 100,000 civilians had died - most of them women and children.
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From a BBC report, today:
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Their statement is the latest protest triggered by a critical report in medical journal the Lancet last October, which suggested 100,000 Iraqi civilians may have died since the March 2003 invasion.
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From the Sydney Morning Herald:
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The survey results suggest that even excluding Falluja, 98,000 more Iraqis died as a result of the invasion of Iraq than would have if the invasion had not taken place. The major causes of death before the invasion were heart attacks and strokes; after the invasion, violence was the main cause of death. The study found that violent deaths were widespread, and mainly attributed to coalition forces.
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From an op-ed on Paul Wolfowitz and the World Bank in The Herald:
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In the space of one week, the US president has named as ambassador to the UN a man who loathes the organisation, and nominated the architect of the Iraq war– estimated civilian casualties 100,000 – to head a body meant to save the world's poor from early death.
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Pacifica Radio, where Jim McDermott spoke of his attempts to end recruiters in high schools:
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Two years ago, on March 19, 2003, the United States began dropping bombs on Iraq, while thousands of US and British forces began pouring across the country's borders. Since then, as many as 100,000 Iraqis have died and an unknown number have been wounded.
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The White House and Defense haven't done enough to refute the Lancet's flawed study. I just wish they could see how much harm it's doing and has done.
Posted by Brian Crouch
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