The Hindu : International : Blair Government disputes Iraq civilian toll

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Sunday, Oct 31, 2004

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International

Blair Government disputes Iraq civilian toll

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, OCT. 30. The British Government has disputed the findings of a study, according to which at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion of their country.

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair's office was quoted as saying that it had `concerns' about the methodology adopted by the study team to arrive at such an alarming figure.

"The findings were based on extrapolation and treating Iraq as if it were all the same in terms of the level of conflict... This is not the case,'' Mr. Blair's spokesman said arguing that the study assumed that the bombing was more widespread than it had been.

Strong reaction

The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, also expressed doubts about the accuracy of the findings published in Lancet magazine on Friday.

He said the figure was much higher than other independent estimates, notably the one put out on the website, Iraqi Body Count, and based on western media reports. The Lancet insisted that the study was "extensively peer-reviewed, revised and edited'' before it was published because of its importance to the evolving security situation in Iraq.

The findings provoked strong reaction from anti-war groups and civil rights campaigners.

Clare Short, the former Secretary of State for International Development who resigned from the Blair Cabinet after the invasion, called the revelation `horrifying.' "It is no wonder, given this tragic death toll, that the resistance to the occupation is growing... Tony Blair talks simplistically about it getting better in Iraq. These figures prove it is just an illusion,'' she said.

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