In the week in which General Patraeus reports back to US Congress on the impact the recent ‘surge’ is having in Iraq, a new poll reveals that more than 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have been murdered since the invasion took place in 2003.
Previous estimates, most noticeably the one published in the Lancet in October 2006, suggested almost half this number (654,965 deaths).These findings come from a poll released today by O.R.B., the British polling agency that have been tracking public opinion in Iraq since 2005. In conjunction with their Iraqi fieldwork agency a representative sample of 1,461 adults aged 18+ answered the following question:-
Q How many members of your household, if any, have died as a result of the conflict in Iraq since 2003 (ie as a result of violence rather than a natural death such as old age)? Please note that I mean those who were actually living under your roof.
None 78%
One 16%
Two 5%
Three 1%
Four or more 0.002%Given that from the 2005 census there are a total of 4,050,597 households this data suggests a total of 1,220,580 deaths since the invasion in 2003.
I am skeptical because, while I’m no statistician, I find the sample rather small and the extrapolation a bit too easy. But then again, this is not my field. The controversial Lancet study, which many think also overstates the number of dead, was at least seen by specialists (although not all of them) as methodologically valid.
[…] new poll suggests over one million dead in Iraq since the invasion, reports Issandr El Amrani from Egypt, who provides a link to the study. Share […]
Accurate results of course depend on sampling techniques, and better attention to dispersal of sampling clusters can make the required numbers smaller. However, it’s not really fair to assert that the most recent Lancet study represents half the new study, since they cover a different time period. See also Just Foreign Policy’s attempt to http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html“ rel=”nofollow”>extrapolate the Lancet data, while accounting for a rising death rate using Iraq Body Count as their index.
1 million, 2 million, most of those were killed by suicide bombers. The Muslim psychos terrorist purposely target civilians. When the U.S kills one civilian it’s an accident. If our goal was to kill civilians, we could kill them all, without nukes, and without breaking a sweat.
We were attacked on 911 and we weren’t going to wait around for more psycho Muslims, like Saddam to plan or finance more. He got what he deserved and Iran should be next. Iran denies the holocaust, and is planning the next one. They are building nukes, financing Hezbolla, and Hamas . Training terrorist to kill Americans.
They want a war. They want to be martyrs for Allah. Lets give them what they want and any other Muslim that wants to be a martyr for Allah. They get what they want, and the world becomes a better place.
I am sick of the Arab/Muslim world. Could someone please tell me what the Arab/Muslim world contributes to the world? I can’t think of anything other than terrorist. Without Oil, the Arab/Muslim world would be beggars.
Dear Kevin,
“1 million, 2 million, most of those were killed by suicide bombers. The Muslim psychos terrorist purposely target civilians. “
Nonesense. Most of those killed have been killed in sectarian cleansing and the like. House to house stuff with guns. Suicide bombs as a percentage of total iraqi casualties are small. Visit the baghdad morque if you don’t believe me.
“We were attacked on 911 and we weren’t going to wait around for more psycho Muslims, like Saddam to plan or finance more.”
Saddam had nothing to do with September 11. Haven’t you been paying any attention? He was a safe guy — a secular dictator interested in remaining in power at home, with none of the millenarian and revolutionary goals of Al Qaeda, a tiny group of psychos who of course don’t represent all Moslems.
“He got what he deserved and Iran should be next.” You want another foreign war? Enlist son if you haven’t already. As for what people “deserve,” well are you enjoying the fruits of the beating we handed out to Saddam? Is the world a safer, more properous and better place as a consequece? America safer? US budget not expanding ($700 bln and counting on the iraq war so far). Ask yourself what invading Iran, a much larger and better armed country would cost. And for what? To prevent them from getting a minor nuclear capability that could not possibly threaten the US. (Don’t have the navy or the missiles with range to hit the US.)? Weird.
“I am sick of the Arab/Muslim world. Could someone please tell me what the Arab/Muslim world contributes to the world? I can’t think of anything other than terrorist. Without Oil, the Arab/Muslim world would be beggars.”
Kevin: What do you contribue to the world? I suspect not much. Do you deserve death on that basis? And most of the world is poor without oil. What is your point? That Arab countries are less advanced than “the west?” That’s true. So?
As for what the Arab/Muslim world contribues to the world they have had some Nobel scientists, though not many. A physics winner in the 70s, an Arab Moslem won in Chemsitry in the 80s and again in the late 90s. Naquib Mahfouz won for literature in the 90s. A turk won for literature recently. THere might be more. That’s just off the top of my head. I ignore the peace prize, which i consider generally worthless and irrelevant given its subjectivity and politicization.
A nice Arab fellow also runs this intriquing blog.
The wife of a friend of mine just had brain surgery conducted by this guy http://www.societyns.org/society/bio.aspx?MemberID=15543 He’s considered the best in the world in his neuroscientific speciality and saved her life.
Historically of course, the contribution of arabs was enormous. (You know, math and medicine and stuff).
To sum up: Why should anyone care what you’re “sick of?” Many Iraqis are sick of the war we brought to their country. Many Arab citizens are sick of the dictatorships that rule them and that the US supports. In my view, they have a point.
Your position seems to be that because a small group of nasty people attacked the US six years ago, from Afghanistan and Pakistan, that vast numbers of Muslims deserve death. I’m sure you don’t really mean that… but that’s the logical sense of your words.