[Peace-discuss] N-G letter attacks Lancet study

[Stuart Levy]

On Tue, Sep 11, 2007 at 01:51:10PM -0500, Robert Naiman wrote:
> As I understand it, under News-Gazette rules I can't respond for 16
> days. Anyone want to take a crack at this? I can provide all the
> data...

Yes, I'd like to try.  What sort of other data do you have?
 
> Transparent lies sign of a weak argument
> Monday September 10, 2007
> 
> In an Aug. 27 letter, Robert Naiman claimed "scientific studies" put
> the number of Iraqi civilian deaths at 1 million. I assume he was
> alluding to the methodologically flawed Johns Hopkins study, which
> claimed 650,000 Iraqi civilians are alleged to have died as war
> casualties since March 2003. This came despite a previous Lancet
> study, which authoritatively claimed between 8,000 to 100,000 Iraqi
> civilians died.
> 
> If 650,000 Iraqi civilians had indeed died, that would mean over 450
> Iraqis would have to have been killed every single day since March
> 2003. If this actually happened, just how did the liberal American and
> Arab news media completely miss the daily spectacle of 450 Iraqi
> deaths given their obvious infatuation with body counts?
> 
> They didn't miss it because it didn't happen.
> 
> Whether the number of civilian deaths was 6,500 or 650,000,
> unquestionably the overwhelming majority of deaths in Iraq are the
> direct result of Muslim-on-Muslim sectarian violence even in countries
> where America has no military presence. This reality underscores the
> utter failure of Islam to keep the peace, even among its own
> fundamentalist adherents whose concept of innocent civilians often
> excludes infidels and Muslims of other sects conveniently identified
> as kafirs.
> 
> The radical arm of the anti-war movement must believe its arguments to
> be weak if they have to resort to such palpable lies to advance their
> cause. Once again, these Bush-hating demagogues undercut their claims
> about being a peaceful, reality-based community since true people of
> peace do not readily embrace such transparent lies.
> 
> HENRY SEITER JR.
> 
> Urbana
> 
> -- 
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org
> 
> Just Foreign Policy's current estimate of Iraqi deaths due to violence
> since the U.S. invasion - now more than a million:
> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
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