Iraqi deaths survey 'was robust'

[Briar]

(The BBC obtained this information by making a Freedom of Information Request. It's been digesting it since March 14th. The government continues to reject these figures in favour of the much lower Iraqi count.)

Iraqi deaths survey 'was robust'

By Owen Bennett-Jones

BBC World Service


The British government was advised against publicly criticising a report estimating that 655,000 Iraqis had died due to the war, the BBC has learnt.

Iraqi Health Ministry figures put the toll at less than 10% of the total in the survey, published in the Lancet.

But the Ministry of Defence's chief scientific adviser said the survey's methods were "close to best practice" and the study design was "robust".

Another expert agreed the method was "tried and tested".

...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6495753.stm