601,027 additional dead Iraqis since invasion

This is the study the right has screamed about but has not found any scientist to challenge its validity.

"Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional cluster sample survey” was written by Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy and Les Roberts.

Funding for the study was provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Johns Hopkins Center for Refugee and Disaster Response.

The critics have no case except that "it seems too high." The only respectable critic, no expert in statistics but instead of military forces - Antony Cordesman, just dismissed it without examination as "politics.' Another article by him was dismissive because it did not agree with other available figures - in an otherwise interesting article not reported in the media in which he concluded Iraq is now undergoing a civil war - PDF. Cordesman has been actively involved in seeking a solution, the almost good, the bad, and the ugly, for Iraq - PDF. Two weeks ago he was quoted in the Washington Post stating Iraq was in a civil war in an article that still used the headline "sectarian strife."

Technorati Tags: Iraq, civil war, Anthony Cordesman