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the ibc page above is the conclusion/summary of a longer piece that is mostly about the main problem with the lancet study--methodology. the methodology was presented in the lancet study itself, which i linked earlier in the thread, and simply reading that could have easily lead anyone to wonder if there were problems with it--the study was based on a small house-to-house survey sample which was then generalized. the report is pretty up front about the question that this technique obviously raises--that of representativeness of the sample.
the ibc methodology is not without its own problems--as the overview on the site says--it relies very heavily on press reports from a range of sources which means that in the final analysis they are trusting the good faith of a pooled press. but the arguments in the ibc critique--which is not bad, and is quite alot longer than what is bit above--rests principally on the magnitude of unreported deaths that would be implied by the lancet numbers, and in the end simply claims that this magnitude of unreported carnage is implausible.
from this two points:
1. there are ways to think about this matter substantively, and then there is the rightwing blog and ibd way of "thinking" about it, which amounts to saying the word "lies" many times. in the end, the "critiques" squirt linked really are not worth anything. they present no data, they say nothing about methodology, they simply address a conservative audience, make assumptions about dispositions and then draw their conclusions--this is a lie. well, that is worthless.
2. the op is predicated on a kind of strange notion--that there would be a number, a casualty rate, that would on its own function as an indicator that the iraq debacle is not worth the cost. i would think that a casualty rate is AMONG the factors that you would have to take into account to arrive at that judgment. at the moment, there are so many such factors that the idea the iraq debacle can be justified seems surreal.
btw--in the nonamerican press, the outlines of the baker report on iraq are starting to emerge. there has been pretty extensive coverage about it in le monde, for example (not quoting it here because, well, it's in french)..the idea of course was to no release this until after the elections in november. so no-one from the right in any position---at all---to make any complaints or argument about the political nature of the lancet report--given that their boy george is trying to delay anything like a realistic assessment of the iraq debacle until after the elections.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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