Gotcha critics attack Lancet article on Iraq deaths

This article in Psyche, Science, and Society looks at the controversy surrounding the high figures (up to 655,000) published in The Lancet and reported in the media in 2006.

"What is disturbing in this case is not the criticism, but the extent to which the study was criticized in public venues for issues that are typical of research studies of the type. The criticism, especially once they hit the press, have often been presented in a 'gotcha' fashion, rather than as an attempt to understand the study and the phenomenon under examination, namely postwar Iraqi mortality ...

"In the meantime, short of being discredited, the Lancet study suggests that postwar mortality has been high. It is almost certainly over 100,000 and there is a reasonable chance that it is far higher. It is a catastrophe and a humanitarian disaster. Bush and Blair, and so many other, both Anglo-American and Iraqi, bear responsibility for unleashing hell upon the Iraqi people."

Hat tip to Mary Ann from Maryannaville.

Tagged: iraq, war