Psyche, Science, and Society

Iraqi Body Count and Iraqi deaths

My new article: When Promoting Truth Obscures the Truth: Iraqi Body Count and Iraqi Deaths has appeared in OpEdNews, ZNet, InformationClearinghouse, and Dissident Voice. [I want to give credit to all those kind enough to posted it.] It expands on David Edwards’ recent brilliant critique of Iraq Body Count and makes some additional points about the limits of their tally of Iraqi casualties. [On the general issue of Iraqi civilian casualties, see my earlier: 100,000 Iraqis Dead: Should We Believe It?]

Excerpt:

David Edwards of Media Lens has a brilliant critique of the shortcomings of the Iraq Body Count tally of civilian deaths in Iraq: Paved With Good Intentions: On Iraq Body Count, Part 1 and Part 2.

Edwards points out the generally recognized fact that IBC’s methodology — only listing deaths reported by two or more Western sources — likely results in their tally being a conservative estimate of civilian deaths. However, Edwards goes further by showing that there is a systematic source of bias in that Western news agencies are more likely to report deaths caused by “insurgents” than those caused by “Coalition” [aka, American] forces. Edwards reports on an examination of the IBC database for the six-month period from January through June, 2005. They found that, of 58 incidents involving at least 10 deaths, only one was attributed to US/Coalition action. Further, during this period, only 15 civilian deaths total were attributed “to ‘coalition’ airstrikes, helicopter gunfire and tank fire,” a result that is completely implausible to anyone who has followed news of the repeated massive attacks by US and allied forces on alleged “insurgent strongholds.”

Very disturbing was the tone of IBC’s founder John Sloboda’s response to being emailed a question about this potential bias. He implied that IBC had no bias in that it recorded all such events reported in the Western media, while ignoring Edwards’ point that the Western media may itself have a bias in what it reports. He stated correctly that “We have always publicly acknowledged that our numbers must underrepresent the true figure.” He then goes on to state “the question of by how much is one that exercises us, as it does many others.” However, he gives no evidence of wrestling with this issue or of recognizing its overriding importance in evaluating what the IBC numbers tell us about the extent of Iraqi deaths….

February 7th, 2006

Dire effects of war on Iraqi children’s mental health

A new study conducted by the Association of Psychologists of Iraq provides data on the severe consequences for Iraqi children of living in a state of war [Children's mental health affected by insecurity, say specialists].

According to Abdullah, the survey was undertaken after a noticeable increase in the number of children seeking psychological counselling, many of whom were found to have learning difficulties.

“It was incredible how strong the results were,” said Abdullah. “The only things they have on their minds are guns, bullets, death and a fear of the US occupation.”

Of the children examined, 92 percent were found to have learning impediments, largely attributable to the current climate of fear and insecurity.

“The fear of kidnapping has been the main reason for learning deficiencies, especially among children whose parents are government employees or high-ranking professionals like doctors and teachers,” Abdullah noted.

If anyone has more information on this study, or on the Association of Psychologists of Iraq, please let me know. Early in the occupation I was trying to obtain information on the mental health consequences of the war and occupation, but could find out very little. A British woman was considering conducting an informal survey, but Fallujah happened and the issue was no longer at the forefront of anyone’s mind. Perhaps this study documenting the damage to children will stir some interest.

February 7th, 2006