Authors Of Lancet Study To Present Findings To Congress Monday

[Jcrowley]

650,000 Dead Iraqis - Authors Of Comprehensive Lancet Study On Iraq Civilian Casualties To Present Findings To Congress Monday
Monday, December 11th AT 10am In 2247 Rayburn House Office Building
 
WASHINGTON - December 8 - In a bipartisan Congressional briefing hosted by Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) the authors of the Lancet Study, which found that as many as 650,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the war, will present their full findings to Congress.

The briefing will take place Monday, December 11th from 10:00am - 12:00pm in 2247 Rayburn House Office Building.

Congressional Briefing on Lancet Study

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Congressman Paul (R-TX)
Gilbert Burnham Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at Johns Hopkins, co-author of the Lancet Study

Les Roberts Ph.D, lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University, co-author of the Lancet Study.

Juan Cole, Ph.D, Modern Middle East and South Asian History at the University of Michigan. Author of blog Informed Consent.

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1208-03.htm

[nam78_two]

1. K&R/nt

[rwheeler31]

2. Do this when people are paying attention

please.

[Jcrowley]

4. They're doing this

all over the country at present. That's if you've been paying attention. Media not bringing it to people's attention? Naturally.

People's attentions are diverted elsewhere as you might imagine, the bread and circus being what it is.

Difficult to gain the attentions in the midst of all the noise and clutter but the effort is still there.

Spread the word.

[Eric J in MN]

3. The Baker Report supports the notion that the real number of deaths...

...caused by the invasion is much greater than the US government officially admits:

From the Baker report:

There is significant underreporting of the violence in Iraq. The standard for recording attacks acts as a filter to keep events out of reports and databases. A murder of an Iraqi is not necessarily counted as an attack. If we cannot determine the source of a sectarian attack, that assault does not make it into the database. A roadside bomb or a rocket or mortar attack that doesn't hurt U.S. personnel doesn't count. For example, on one day in July 2006 there were 93 attacks or significant acts of violence reported. Yet a careful review of the reports for that single day brought to light 1,100 acts of violence. Good policy is difficult to make when information is systematically collected in a way that minimizes its discrepancy with policy goals.

[pinto]

5. Published summary of the original Lancet article:

The Lancet, Volume 364, Number 9448, 20 November 2004


Articles

Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: cluster sample survey

Dr Les Roberts PhD (a) , Riyadh Lafta MD (b), Prof Richard Garfield DrPH (c),
Jamal Khudhairi MD (b) and Gilbert Burnham MD (a)


Summary

Background

In March, 2003, military forces, mainly from the USA and the UK, invaded Iraq. We did a survey to compare mortality during the period of 14·6 months before the invasion with the 17·8 months after it.

Methods

A cluster sample survey was undertaken throughout Iraq during September, 2004. 33 clusters of 30 households each were interviewed about household composition, births, and deaths since January, 2002. In those households reporting deaths, the date, cause, and circumstances of violent deaths were recorded. We assessed the relative risk of death associated with the 2003 invasion and occupation by comparing mortality in the 17·8 months after the invasion with the 14·6-month period preceding it.

Findings

The risk of death was estimated to be 2·5-fold (95% CI 1·6–4·2) higher after the invasion when compared with the preinvasion period. Two-thirds of all violent deaths were reported in one cluster in the city of Falluja. If we exclude the Falluja data, the risk of death is 1·5-fold (1·1–2·3) higher after the invasion. We estimate that 98000 more deaths than expected (8000–194000) happened after the invasion outside of Falluja and far more if the outlier Falluja cluster is included. The major causes of death before the invasion were myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accidents, and other chronic disorders whereas after the invasion violence was the primary cause of death. Violent deaths were widespread, reported in 15 of 33 clusters, and were mainly attributed to coalition forces. Most individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children. The risk of death from violence in the period after the invasion was 58 times higher (95% CI 8·1–419) than in the period before the war.

Interpretation

Making conservative assumptions, we think that about 100000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Violence accounted for most of the excess deaths and air strikes from coalition forces accounted for most violent deaths. We have shown that collection of public-health information is possible even during periods of extreme violence. Our results need further verification and should lead to changes to reduce non-combatant deaths from air strikes.

Published online October 29,2004 http://image.thelancet.com/extras/04art10342web.pdf

Affiliations

a. Center for International Emergency Disaster and Refugee Studies, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
b. Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq
c. School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

[slipslidingaway]

6. K&R! nt

[dweller]

7. knr !

also see: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x250706

:thumbsup: Dennis!
dp

[OneBlueSky]

8. now THAT should be interesting . . . the Republican contortions . . .

that will undoubtedly occur as they attempt to discredit the research should rival the Cirque de Soleil . . .

[babylonsister]

9. Great news. More truth from learned people. At some point,

someone has to believe the truth vs. dimson's and this admin's version.

[never cry wolf]

10. Who will be there besides Dennis and Ron Paul?

The session is closed for holiday break and even when in session they only sat from Tues. thru Thurs. I hope the Dems invite them back while in session and make all the pukies listen!