That famed Lancet study which claimed that 650,000 Iraqis had been killed as a result of the liberation? Partially funded by anti-war, anti-Bush fanatic George Soros:
A STUDY that claimed 650,000 people were killed as a result of the invasion of Iraq was partly funded by the antiwar billionaire George Soros.
Soros, 77, provided almost half the £50,000 cost of the research, which appeared in The Lancet, the medical journal. Its claim was 10 times higher than consensus estimates of the number of war dead.
The study, published in 2006, was hailed by antiwar campaigners as evidence of the scale of the disaster caused by the invasion, but Downing Street and President George Bush challenged its methodology.
New research published by The New England Journal of Medicine estimates that 151,000 people – less than a quarter of The Lancet estimate – have died since the invasion in 2003.
“The authors should have disclosed the [Soros] donation and for many people that would have been a disqualifying factor in terms of publishing the research,” said Michael Spagat, economics professor at Royal Holloway, University of London.
The Lancet study was commissioned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and led by Les Roberts, an associate professor and epidemiologist at Columbia University. He reportedly opposed the war from the outset.
The lies being perpetrated by the anti-war forces grow more astounding all the time – its gotten so bad that we must, henceforward, work on the assumption that any really bad report about the War on Terrorism in general, or the liberation of Iraq in particular, is – at best – incorrect and – at worst – an outright fabrication. In a way, this is entirely unsurprising – the anti-war movement’s foundation stone, as it were, is ANSWER – Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. ANSWER was formed on September 14, 2001 – a mere three days after the 9/11 attacks and its purpose, from the start, was to undermine any American effort to respond to the attacks. ANSWER’s primary founders came from the Workers World Party – a hard-core, communist party dedicated to the destruction of the United States as we know it. So hardcore is the Workers World Party that they actually have kind things to say about North Korea, and they applauded the massacre of the democrats by the Chinese government in Tienamen Square. Of course, the anti-war movement has gained adherents from all sorts of different organizations since September 14th, 2001 – but by taking their cue from ANSWER, the anti-war movement has been shot through with lies from the get-go.
I was warning leftwingers early on that they should keep their distance from any movement even remotely connected to ANSWER – it all fell on deaf ears; so eager are lefties to believe the worst about the United States that they easily swallowed whatever ANSWER peddled. Lie down with dogs, come up with fleas – and the anti-war left needs about a dozen flea collars just to get rid of the ANSWER bugs planted in their midst.
Blogs For Victory 
The point still remains – the earlier study claiming 650,000 deaths was touted to the skies by you on the left; that study has now been demonstrated to be wrong; that study was funded by an anti-war fanatic, and controlled by an ardently anti-war person.
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but that is exactly the point Mark. It HAS NOT BEEN PROVEN WRONG. It simply isn’t true. If you have proof of it being wrong I would like to know. You can insult all you want Mark – but that won’t change the simple fact that you no proof or reasoning that indicates that this number should be wrong. There is another study that has a smaller number sure – but that in and of itself isn’t enough. To use one of your favorite arguments .. I will just say that my dad did a calculation and told me the number was 600,000. I guess that is valid in your mind?
liberalT,
I can’t help you if you won’t admit basic facts – the earlier study wasn’t just a different result, it was a false result…a set of lies dressed up as fact, put together by people with an anti-Bush, anti-war agenda. That you don’t wish to accept facts is your business.
look – its not enough just to SAY its a false report. You have to give specific evidence as to why? Methods? false reporting? other evidence which disproves it. No Mark it isn’t a matter of me not wanting to accept it – its a simple matter of you having presented NO FACTS. Once you do that we can discuss them – otherwise its just more mindless ranting and rhetoric…
Loved Jeremiah’ link,
I also read the science behine the Lancelot’s report when they estimated 650,000+..
If the basis of your numbers is to extrapolate the final results based on interviews and population size.. your probably going to come up with the wrong number.
They all fail to do a simple cross verification on there results.. Such as where are the 500+ bodies a day that would have to be accounted for to come up with the 650,000 total??
Or the 13,000 a month..
Obviously the entire world press in Iraq is hiding the truth ….
Again, the liberals prove to everyone in existence what USEFUL IDIOTS they are.
Unconditionally ccept anything touted by the left as fact, while denying anything that contradicts.
Again libt your foolishness explodes forth. “IT HAS NOT BEEN PROVEN WRONG” to you is a valid defense for your twisted facts, but again the global warming dissenters have not been proven wrong either. But you dismiss them simply by who presents the facts…..”they are in the pockets of big oil” is your lame excuse.
To you, “they are in the pockets of George Soros” does not apply in the same manner. Proving once again that George Soros takes you and exploits you as the USEFUL IDIOT you are.
If you do not like being called a USEFUL IDIOT, then stop making it so.
Personally, I don’t think anyone knows how many has died. The main problem in this, is that the left wants to make up some numbers and then use them as “fact” and means for justificiation against war; and our enemies just relish in that type of reporting.
~ Jeremiah
LibT, or point at all those other reports that are about 10% of the Lancet report? That report wasn’t just off, it was super duper obviously full of crap off.
LiberalT,
Jeremiah provided you the factual link, Buddy pointed out the salient point to be made.
Do you realise that the study being questioned actually held that about 100,000 died in the first 18 months, and thus they were claiming more than 500,000 died in the two years between approximately September of 2004 and September of 2006? That works out to 684 deaths per day – and as the Lancet study was saying about 92% or so were deaths from violence, that works out to 629 violent deaths per day in Iraq…
Comparisons:
Average Deaths per Day, Britain WWI: 645
Average Deaths per Day, USA WWII: 262
Average Deaths per Day, All Sides Vietnam: 582
Average Deaths per Day, US Civil War: 411
Are there armies of millions facing each other across No Man’s Land?
Are there armies of millions operating simultaneously against first-class enemies around the globe?
Is there a civil war being fought out by armies numbering in the millions?
Is there a civil war being fought with armies of hundreds of thousands who continually got at each other in conventional battle?
No, liberalT, there’s not – it never was credible to think that thay many Iraqis had died. One had to be a liar, a fool or a complete ignoramous to lend any credence to that original Lancet study…it does take some time to kill people, liberalT, you don’t just whistle up some death and then have at it…
no Mark. Jerry just points to the study. That isn’t enough. I want a point by point analysis of the discrepancies and a detailed argument as to why I should believe one over the other.
Its just as stupid as me pointing back to the original study and saying “see” its a study and it proves your wrong. You need actually read the document. You clearly haven’t or it would be easy for you to provide me with even the basic facts – and not endless and mindless rhetoric.
liberalT,
Then you are absolutely hopeless in this matter – you just won’t listen to anything which calls into question your views on the war, which are a hodge-podge of ignorance and hatred…
Neocon: Why do you call me a racist? I have nothing against white people.
Historically, they’ve been awful to my people; but individually, I’ve met few I did not like.
It’s difficult to describe how utterly loathsome it is to read human beings bickering over this. Not one single person anywhere in the world knows how many thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of genuinely innocent people who never asked to have their country be the target of the United States military are dead.
They are infants, children, teenagers, young adults, adults and the elderly. Some died from burns. Some died from being scattered into a random set of body parts from the force of explosions. Smoke inhalation ended some lives. Some died of gunshot wounds, in some cames quickly and in other cases slowly. Decapitations can be agonizing.
Many others are only missing arms, legs, feet, hands or fingers. Some number, I don’t know how many, have faces which no longer bear any remnant of a human appearance. Some are alive and only have to live with physical scars which limit or prevent their ability to ever work. Others are utterly untouched but live with post-traumatic stress disorder and shattered families.
Were they intentionally targeted, even in error, by some of the weapons that killed and maimed them? I have utter confidence in the overall professionalism of our armed forces and as much confidence in the barbarity of so many of those who oppose our forces. However, our nation’s leaders knew that innocents would be killed and maimed by one side or the other because they always are. There are no exceptions in warfare, especially when the fighting is of the kind going on in Iraq which was predicted by some and pooh-poohed by others.
Yet, what do they mean to anyone here? They’re not even numbers. They are a number, still climbing, which can be argued back and forth in service of some imagined advantage in the form of a few words on an obscure website which will be countered and countered again until the bodies are no longer of interest and can be shoved back into the closet until the next time they can be used in service of another argument.
No single actual human citizen of Iraq with a family, friends, home, ideas, hopes and memories means anything to almost everyone here. No, the only thing that matters is a number and the collective noun – Iraqis. Enjoy your armchair argument.
·10. Christian Wright | January 4th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Edwards is the only viable male white candidate. He will come out on top in the end.
It is sad that people cannot see past race, gender and faith; but that is the case. Edwards will win the nomination because he deserves it and because he is the right race and gender.
Diana,
Your #37 post is the most astonishingly pathetic example of emotional liberal dishonesty that I have ever read.
Send it into Hillary right of way.
neocon,
As I said…
Also, you meant to write, “Send it into Hillary right away.” You’re welcome for the correction.
neocon,
Your level of concern for genuine human suffering is also duly noted.
What the USEFUL IDIOTS fail to recognize is the 100,000s of deaths committed by a man who was “contained”.
What the USEFUL IDIOTS fail to recognize are those that died horribly at the hands of Saddam and his sadistic sons in their rumpus rooms.
What the USEFUL IDIOTS fail to admit is that while the Oil for Food Program was in place Hussein did not use the cash to purchase food for his people, but to enhance his riches and buy off other USEFUL IDIOTS to keep him in power.
What the USEFUL IDIOTS fail to recognize is that Hussein used electricity and water as a tool to keep his people subservient. Many innocents did not have access to these necessary utilities. Now more Iraqis have power and fresh water than before, but they still try to spin it as a result of the war rather a result of Hussein.
What the USEFUL IDIOTS won’t stop regurgitating over and over is that the Iraqis were better off if they were still under the thumb of Hussein.
The USEFUL IDIOTS continue to regurgitate their talking points about the war with such closed minds to actual evidence of improvements.
They are not called USEFUL IDIOTS for nothing. Stalin and Goebbels would be pround to have manipulated these masses into their collective consciences.
say whatever you want Mark – all I asked was for your actual proof and analysis that the study was wrong. You are the one spewing hatred and refusing to give anything but rhetoric. Present your argument and we can discuss it – you must have actually read the reports and done a detailed analysis in order to be sure that one of them is a lie ?
Diana,
You and your anti-American propaganda gets more irritating every day!!!!!!
Would you like to expand on my post #13?
Do you think you could talk about Al Qaeda killing the people and blowing them to bits?
We all know you Democrats would have kept the butcher of Baghdad — Saddam Hussein — and his two sons in power!
I’m sure that’s just what the people of Iraq wanted — to continue Saddam’s rule, chopping the people into pieces, running them through human shredders while still alive to enjoy it, carving them into pieces while they were still alive to enjoy it, and and all the other creative ways Saddam had for slowly killing people so they could enjoy the pain for as long as possible!
Tell all the Iraqis with the missing family members buried in the mass graves about how they were much better off under Saddam!
If it were up to you, they would still be filling those graves with Saddam’s victims!!!
AAR
liberalT,
Your beloved United Nations — using the latest information and five times the number of households — says your study is wrong and the deaths grossly overstated… and I’m sure the U.N. would tried to make the death toll as high as possible.
How about YOU prove that the United Nations is wrong! I’m sure they and the press will be very interested in your findings! You’ll be the center of attention on the world’s news networks tomorrow morning with your proof!!!
AAR
no AAR. The fact of the matter is that I don’t know how many people have died. All we know is that it is a lot and on the order of about 100 K if not more. I never said that the UN study is wrong – I don’t think we have that good of an estimate and that there are large uncertainties. I never went around making ridiculous claims about studies that I don’t know the details of. That is the difference..
Of course Diana is correct – it is disgusting that we sit around and argue about it with an armchair prospective while huge amounts of people get killed, injured, or displaced and have their lives destroyed. My point is only that you cannot simply ignore studies because you don’t like the answer to them or who supported them. You have to argue the facts not rhetoric…
Diana is not anti-American. That is the beauty of the American system and why we need to cherish our freedoms – our freedom to disagree even when it is the President ARR.
(Ed. Note: Deleted – links to article more than two years old and of no worth whatsoever)
They are infants–Diana.
Why don’t you do something to stop the genocide of your own then.
You know, the nearly 50,000,000 little innocent babies that you support the murdering of!
What utter barbarism!!!!
What a sick and demented ideology!!!!
~ Jeremiah
Christian Wright,
Even I will note that the article doesn’t compare President Bush to Saddam Husseing. Plus, while I’m sure that what Prime Minister Allawi was saying was accurate in broad outline, I’m also prone to believe that he had political motives as part of why he made the statements that he did.