Are we talking about a centralized bureau in Baghdad? Are death certificates issued by local hospitals or medical practicioners who then forward reports to be processed in Baghdad? Are death certificates even issued by the central government, or is it the business of regional governments, as it is in the US?
One would think that the methodology would include this kind of information. I haven't seen it; like you, I'm working on second-hand reports. If the number of dead outstrips the number of death certificates at a specific bureau, the logical thing to do is to find out who issues them, rather than say that one number is wrong because it doesn't match the other. This is especially true of a time of chaos, like war, when services become decentralized and are performed by people available locally.
Re: leaving aside the death counts for Saddam's regime, let's just figure that the interviews are taking care of that. People generally know when their parents, children, brothers and sisters disappear. No reappearance after a number of years equals a presumption of death, which is commuted into legal death, even without the body. You know that.
Current Events » in reply to re: Cluster surveys, used in this study, are routinely used to determine rates of death in natural disasters.
The first point is a problem. Who are the authorities?
The whole thread (38 posts)
- Johns Hopkins/Lancet pull another number out of their asses.
- Another study for comparison
- Considering no nukes, WMDs, no al-Qaeda no link to WTC - how many is too many? (n/t)
- Link to actual study
- That's nothing. Remember the ONE MILLION IRAQI CHILDREN who supposedly died due to the sanctions?
- Does it make you feel better, Tom...
- What should be disturbing....
- Cluster surveys, used in this study, are routinely used to determine rates of death in natural disasters.
- Got any idea why Bush & Co. don't keep track of Iraqi deaths?