654,965 Dead People

An Iraq War Protest Poster designed in 2007.

In October 2006, Les Roberts, PhD and Gilbert Burham, MD published a highly controversial report in the medical journal,The Lancet. Their estimate of total Iraqi deaths from both violent and non-violent causes directly and indirectly related to the US invasion was 654,965 people, by far the highest estimate on record. Though criticisms of the report were many, with claims of political motivation and poor scholarship, Robert, Gilbert and many of their academic peers have continued to defend the epidemiological rigor of their work.

Responding to accusations of political bias, Roberts wrote, “What does neutrality mean? Do people who publish about malaria deaths need to be neutral about malaria?”