Dead in Iraq

My lap is still topless, my formerly trusty iBook having taken up residence at the Genius Bar for the time being, but I'm borrowing my son's machine (trying not to look at whatever piracy or porn might be in residence here) to link to the Lancet Report on the number of "excess" Iraqi deaths attributable to our invasion. The report estimates that 654,965 Iraqis had died, 601,027 of them violently, as of July 2006. According to the report:

The number of people dying in Iraq has continued to escalate. The proportion of deaths ascribed to coalition forces has diminished in 2006, although the actual numbers have increased every year. Gunfire remains the most common cause of death, although deaths from car bombings have increased.

Hat tip to Ann Bartow at Feminist Law Professors (and to her source Sinister Girl for linking to Riverbend's comments on the Lancet Report at her blog Baghdad Burning. While you are there, read the entire blog.

Asked to comment on the discrepancy between his own stated estimate of 30,000 Iraqi deaths last December and the figure in the report, Bush dismissed the report as not credible. Bush's lies, along with a good deal of information and background on the report, have been posted by mrs pickles at Is it over yet?

And now back to burying my head in the sand.