Letters to the Editor

Letters posted here are associated with the following article:
Grading on a curve in Iraq
Iraq may be stepping back from the brink of civil war, but it's a long way from where the administration once said it would be.
Tim Grieve [2006-02-27]
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  • Body count

    Tim writes: "Nearly 2,300 U.S. soldiers and maybe 10 times as many Iraqis have died in the war so far."

    Actually, using the most conservative number of Iraqi civilian deaths caused by military action listed on Iraq Body Count (28,535), at least 12.5 times as many Iraqi civilians have been killed in this war versus U.S. forces. Estimates go up from there -- and of course many more deaths are the indirect, not direct result of our military actions. Bush himself estimated civilian deaths at around 30,000 months ago, and it has risen considerably since. Human Rights Watch put the number at 100,000 more than a year ago.

    -- my3sons
    [Read my3sons's other letters]
    Monday, February 27, 2006 06:55 AM

  • Lowballing Iraqi deaths

    "Nearly 2,300 U.S. soldiers and maybe 10 times as many Iraqis have died in the war so far"

    The British medical journal Lancet has estimated a figure of approximately 100,000 Iraqis, with a certainty of 90% that it is at least 40,000. Even President Bush has acknowledged about 30,000, but his figure did not include insurgent and Iraqi military casualties.

    -- ramoncreager
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    Monday, February 27, 2006 07:43 AM

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