Why is the American press silent on the report of 650,000 Iraqi deaths? »

Posted by: karam 2 years ago

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The US media is virtually silent on a new scientific study that estimates the Iraqi death toll from the US war at 655,000. The study, conducted by John Hopkins University and funded by MIT, was posted Wednesday on the web site of the British medical journal, the Lancet.

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karam

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berkeley
Oct. 14, 2006, 2:52 p.m.
fta: "There can be no legitimate doubts about the credibility of the study. Lancet is one of the oldest and most prestigious peer-reviewed medical publications in the world. The Johns Hopkins public health school is the largest in the world, and regularly ranks as the top public health school in the United States. The journal article was reviewed and approved for publication by four independent scientific experts in the area."
"In burying the story, the New York Times and Washington Post have played a particularly significant role. The original articles published by these newspapers on Wednesday were relegated to the inside pages: in the Times on page 8, in the Post on page 12."
"The corporate-... media have buried this story because they do not want the American people to know the truth of what is happening in Iraq."
amen.

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  2sidestoeverything
  Oct. 14, 2006, 9:17 p.m.
  berkeley
  You hit the nail on the head.
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eugenegerard
Oct. 14, 2006, 11:41 p.m.
They are crimanilly complicite in aiding this administrations criminal behaviour.
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LordyLordy
Oct. 14, 2006, 11:51 p.m.
The only problem with the 650,000 figure is that even the Iraqi government has disputed the reports of these figures, and claim them to be highly exaggerated, grossly negligent on the high side. Both the Iraqi estimates and the U.N. has the toll about 50,000. These reports aren't created by Republican nor Democrats but by observers and stat folks in the field, not in some lofty safe office building far from the war. Also notable is the fact that many Iraqis have indeed died since the war began, and you can point the finger at Muslim extremists who are killing innocent Muslim people. Our American Press, for a change, decided to check their facts before they printed misinformation and lies. Good job for a change.
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mamasan
Oct. 15, 2006, 2:13 a.m.
I feel bad if even two people died over there.
Very sad and we should leave ASAP.
cut and run.
save some lives.
Avg rating: (+50/-0 50)
jambaman84
Oct. 15, 2006, 2:30 a.m.
wow if it really is 650,000 people who died in this war, there is something wrong here... it sucks that the media is soo biased here, you can't get the straight facts without one side bending it for their advantage. can their be any unbaised news reports here? is that so hard to ask for?
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Ononono
Oct. 15, 2006, 4:15 a.m.
Perhaps the US media is reserving the info for one of their peers to write a book along the path of In Defense of Denial!
Right here the battle is on whether we should punch 5 or 6 keyboard strokes. Over there, alas, it is just 40 miles vs 500 miles of bodies lined up in the desert. Do we really care which is right?
Avg rating: (+8/-1 7)
Mimsmitty
Oct. 16, 2006, 1:58 a.m.
We are talking about human lives, and it is tragic no matter what number we believe to be true. But yes, I believe that the higher the number climbs, the greater the tragedy, the more heinous the crime.
And of course the 650,000 number is credible. Can anyone here seriously contend that Johns Hopkins is what, a "leftist" hospital? that the Lancet is not one of the most highly respected scientifc journals in print today?
The corporate-owned American media is complicit, has been complicit all along in this war. After all, it is such a lucrative enterprise.
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LordyLordy
Oct. 26, 2006, 8:50 p.m.
You believe John Hopkins and the Lancet have accurate reports and accounts? 650,000 isn't even credible. How many did they count that Iraq President murdered, simply because they weren't friends? Where is this count? Buried in the desert, in an area bigger than California.
The only problem with the 650,000 figure is that even the Iraqi government has disputed the reports of these figures, and claim them to be highly exaggerated, grossly negligent on the high side. Both the Iraqi estimates and the U.N. has the toll about 50,000. These reports aren't created by Republican nor Democrats but by observers and stat folks in the field, not in some lofty safe office building far from the war. Also notable is the fact that many Iraqis have indeed died since the war began, and you can point the finger at Muslim extremists who are killing innocent Muslim people. Our American Press, for a change, decided to check their facts before they printed misinformation and lies. Good job for a change.
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Natureboy
Nov. 23, 2006, 7:43 a.m.
As for credibility, I tend to give more weight to the findings of Johns Hopkins than I do to the Bush regime. Johns Hopkins has the advantage on two scores, as they can claim medical research as an area of expertise and they have not been shown to be pathological liars as Bush and his cronies have.
The difference in figures can be PARTLY explained by methodology- Johns Hopkins took the pre-invasion mortality rate and contrasted it with the occupation mortality rate, which captures issues like the number of Iraqis who have died since the invasion due illness caused by destruction of infrastructure such as sewage treatment plants, the number of Iraqis dead due to overloaded or decimated hospitals, etc. Simply counting the number of Iraqis killed directly by US bombs and bullets does not accurately represent the loss of life caused by the US aggression against Iraq.