Via Kevin Drum:
A team at Johns Hopkins has done another study of the post-invasion death rate in Iraq:
A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred.
….Of the total 655,000 estimated “excess deaths,” 601,000 resulted from violence….Of the violent deaths that occurred after the invasion, 31 percent were caused by coalition forces or airstrikes, the respondents said.
The study has uncertainties, but the estimate is a mid-range one surrounded by fuzz on both sides. If it’s at all right, it’s a shocking number. Consider the context: The CIA estimates the Iraqi population at at 26.7 million. So I make that almost 2.5% of the population!
Think about that. Five out of every two hundred. One out of forty. That’s one person out of every full-sized major league baseball roster. As a war-related death. Not to mention the injuries.
This shows that an American life is more precious than rest of us.I would sure remember not to say anything to an American tourist in my country,you know, i don’t want invasion.
Its funny how a few hundred years old nation full of ignorant people wants to teach Iraq(one of the oldest civilizations),how to live.