The Wire

The latest report on war casualty figures for Iraq makes for grim reading. According to the study by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies, 39,000 Iraqs have been killed as a direct result of combat or armed violence since the US-led invasion. This study draws on an earlier study by UK medical journal, The Lancet which suggests the overall toll from deaths related to the invasion could be as high as 100,000. According observers, the additional 60,000 deaths accounted for in the Lancet takes into account those not directly killed by armed engagement but those deemed “excess deaths”. These are deaths that have occurred because of the breakdown in society and services that would not have taken place if the invasion had not occurred. But following the terrorist atrocities in London last week, is the West ready to be sympathetic to the suffering of those half way around the world? The Medical Association for the Prevention of War is a long-term opponent of the Iraq conflict. Erica Vowles asked its President, Sue Wareham, about whether we in the West can possibly comprehend the scale of the loss of life going on in Iraq.