Civilian Death Toll In Iraq Exceeds 100,000
New
Scientist | October 29 2004
The invasion of Iraq in March 2003 by coalition
forces has lead to the death of at least 100,000 civilians, reveals the first
scientific study to examine the issue.
The majority of these deaths, which are in addition those normally expected
from natural causes, illness and accidents, have been among women and children,
finds the study, released early by The Lancet on Thursday.
The most common cause of death is as a direct result of violence, mostly caused
by coalition air strikes, reveals the study of almost 1000 households scattered
across Iraq. And the risk of violent death just after the invasion was 58
times greater than before the war. The overall risk of death was 1.5 times
more after the invasion than before.
The figure of 100,000 is based on "conservative assumptions", notes
Les Roberts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore,
US, who led the study.
That estimate excludes Falluja, a hotspot for violence. If the data from this
town is included, the study points to about 200,000 excess deaths since the
outbreak of war.
Public health
"These findings raise questions for those far removed from Iraq - in
the governments of the countries responsible for launching a pre-emptive war,"
writes Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet in a commentary accompanying
the paper.
"In planning this war, the coalition forces - especially those of the
US and UK - must have considered the likely effects of their actions for civilians,"
he writes.
He argues that, from a public health perspective, whatever "planning
did take place was grievously in error".
"The invasion of Iraq, the displacement of a cruel dictator, and the
attempt to impose a liberal democracy by force have, by themselves, been insufficient
to bring peace and security to the civilian population. Democratic imperialism
has led to more deaths, not fewer," he asserts.
He also praises the "courageous team of scientists" for their efforts,
and notes the study's limitations.
GPS sampling
The team of US and Iraqi scientists recorded mortality during the 15 months
before the invasion and the 18 months afterwards. They carried out the survey
of 988 Iraqi households in 33 different areas across Iraq in September 2004.
Using a GPS (global positioning system) unit, the interviewers randomly selected
towns within governates. They then visited the nearest 30 houses to the GPS
point randomly selected.
Families living under one roof were asked about deaths in their household
before and after the war. "Confirmation was sought to ensure that a large
fraction of the reported deaths were not fabrications," write the team.
The interviewers did ask for death certificates, but only in two cases for
each cluster of houses. This was because of concerns that implying the families
were lying could trigger violence.
But the team believes that lying about deaths is unlikely and, if anything,
"it is possible that deaths were not reported" because families
might want to conceal them.
Horton acknowledges the potential for recall bias among those interviewed
and also the relatively small sample size. "The research was completed
under the most testing of circumstances - an ongoing war. And therefore certain
limitations were inevitable and need to be acknowledged right away,"
he says.
But he also calls for an "urgent political and military response".
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