30,000 Iraqi civilians dead?
Yesterday when asked how many Iraqis (civilians, military, police, insurgents and other citizens) had been killed since the inception of the war, President Bush responded, “I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis.” The media responded by creating the newest anti-war talking point: “30,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed because of this war.”
Michelle Malkin has the updates: The San Francisco Chronicle has since changed their headline from “Bush says 30,000 Iraqi civilians dead in war” to “Bush says 30,000 Iraqis dead in war.”
A blogger sent an email to SFC got this response from the Washington Bureau chief:
I know. I don’t write headlines. I have told editors to correct.
Thanks for writing.Edward Epstein
Washington Bureau
San Francisco Chronicle
Actually the civilian death toll is probably in excess of 30,000.
Says who?
Well, for one the Lancet study by Roberts el al. found that in all likelihood the excess death after the 2003 invasion was greater than thirty thousand. The year or so since the study have surely contributed to more causalities. Of course, criticism of the Lancet study are common. However, informed criticism of the study by someone who actually knows something about epidimiology or statistics are very rare.