British backtrack on Iraq death toll

The Independent reports that British government officials have backed the methods used by scientists who concluded that more than 600,000 Iraqis have been killed since the invasion, the BBC reported yesterday.

The Government publicly rejected the findings, published in The Lancet in October. But the BBC said documents obtained under freedom of information legislation showed advisers concluded that the much-criticised study had used sound methods.

The researchers, reflecting the inherent uncertainties in such extrapolations, said they were 95 per cent certain that the real number of deaths lay somewhere between 392,979 and 942,636.

The conclusion, based on interviews and not a body count, was disputed by some experts, and rejected by the US and British governments. But the chief scientific adviser to the Ministry of Defence, Roy Anderson, described the methods used in the study as "robust" and "close to best practice". Another official said it was "a tried and tested way of measuring mortality in conflict zones".

So the government after trashing the report with no reason, apart from it was not what they wanted reported, have been advised by their top officials that the death toll is more than likely correct.

This is a shocking figure and will forever be the legacy of Bush and Blair who have dragged us into this conflict with no thought to the likely outcome.

British backtrack on Iraq death toll - Independent Online Edition > Middle East