STEPHEN HARPER TO FOLLOW GEORGE BUSH IN IRAQ??? YOU NEVER KNOW???

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Originally uploaded by Oldmaison.

According to a study published Wednesday in the British medical journal the
Lancet, the US invasion and occupation of Iraq are responsible for the
deaths of an estimated 655,000 Iraqis.

The survey of Iraqi casualties was conducted by a team of Iraqi physicians
under the direction of epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University's
Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland.

Of the total number of war-related deaths, an estimated 600,000 died as a
result of violence, including gun shots, car bombs and other explosive
devices, and air strikes. An estimated 31 percent of these, or 186,000, are
attributed by the study directly to coalition forces-that is, these Iraqis
were killed by the American military or its allies. According to the study,
gunshot wounds caused 56 percent of violent deaths-an extraordinarily high
figure that points again to the direct role of the US military.

The 55,000 additional deaths from non-violent sources are attributed by the
study to heart attacks, cancer, infant mortality and other illnesses. This
increase is directly related to the destruction of Iraq's social
infrastructure, including electricity, sanitation, clean water and medical
care.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Bush called the figure of 655,000 "not
credible" and said the methodology used in the study had been "discredited."
He did not bother to explain the basis on which he dismissed the report.

This statement, as with virtually all official US statements on Iraqi
casualties, attributes the toll on Iraqi lives entirely to the resistance,
not to US violence. Since the invasion, the US government has refused to
release figures on the deaths it has caused. The US-backed Iraqi government
has systematically underestimated the death toll, and has stepped up its
policy of concealment in tandem with the increasing carnage from US military
attacks, mass killings by death squads, and suicide bombings. Beginning in
September, the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki barred the
Baghdad morgue and the Health Ministry from releasing their own reports on
deaths.

The Lancet study is the most credible estimate of deaths available, and is
based on an entirely sound methodology. The figure of 655,000 is much higher
than numbers reported by other surveys, including Iraq Body Count, because
these other estimates rely on passive surveys of deaths reported in the
press. This method is known to vastly underestimate actual deaths, since
most killings go unreported.

The Post noted, "Both this and the earlier [Johns Hopkins] study are the
only ones to estimate mortality in Iraq using scientific methods. The
technique, called 'cluster sampling,' is used to estimate mortality in
famines and after natural disasters."

To verify the reported deaths, the interviewers requested death certificates
87 percent of the time. Of those asked, 92 percent were able to give
certificates.