Iraq morgue 'receives 1100 dead' (Baghdad - July)

[sabra]

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16290565%255E1702,00.html

Iraq morgue 'receives 1100 dead'
From correspondents in London
17aug05

THE number of dead Iraqi civilians counted at the Baghdad morgue hit 1100 in July, the highest toll in recent history, a British newspaper reported today, blaming the daily violence.

The Independent said the figure was just 700 short of the total number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since April 2003, after the US-led invasion.

"The July figures are the largest ever recorded in the history of the Baghdad Medical Institute," an anonymous, senior member of the management at the morgue was quoted as telling the newspaper.

....


By comparison, equivalent figures for July 1997, 1998 and 1999 - during the leadership of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein - were all below 200, The Independent said.

[Cocoa]

1. outbutchering the Butcher of Baghdad

[mike_c]

2. this always happens during the last throes....

No worries-- victory is just around the corner. More importantly, did you shop and consume today? It's the PATRIOTIC thing to do!

[The Straight Story]

3. Who killed these people (nt)

[krkaufman]

7. It's the morgue, so it includes all causes...

... from directly war/insurgency-related deaths, terrorist strikes, natural causes, heat exhaustion, starvation, disease, etc.

This number is reminiscent of the estimate of "extra deaths" from the Lancet study:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3962969.stm

Before the invasion, most people died as a result of heart attack, stroke and chronic illness, the report says, whereas after the invasion, "violence was the primary cause of death".

[Maggie_May]

4. Dear Mr. Bush

I hope your happy with yourself you out did Saddam.

[Oreegone]

5. Bush

Bush.... the Butcher of Bagdad:banghead: :wtf:

[Spazito]

6. Well, well, the little Emperor must be very proud of himself

He is now a 'badder dude' than Saddam, something he has aspired to be. Despicable.

[struggle4progress]

8. So this is something like a three to five fold increase in the death rate

which the CIA in 2000-2002 estimated around 6/1000 per year. The excess death rate must then be two to four times the baseline or about 12-24/1000 per year. With a population around 24 million, that translates to 288,000-576,000 excess deaths annually. We've been there two years, so if these rates were representative, half a million to a million excess Iraqi deaths could have resulted from the US war. The authors of the Lancet article last year were much more careful, of course: I bet their figure of 100,000 excess Iraqi deaths isn't far off.

[Chicago Democrat]

9. Nero fiddles at Crawford while Bagdad BURNS!

Swine