Now Two Studies Show Deaths of Iraqis May Top 650,000

We aren't told these numbers by the administration because George W. Bush does not care about the loss of innocent lives, whether of our own troops or innocent Iraqi civillians.

Since the media isn't allowed to photograph returning troops, or the deceased's coffins, from Iraq, there's also no way to confirm that we are hearing the real numbers of American casualties. Those who've visited injured vets in hospitals often report that the numbers of injured appear far greater than we've been told. All of this matters. Our men and women are not pawns in some crazy chess-game. They are not to be trifled with. They are not for the adventures and misadventures of our saber-rattling leaders. They are not on this earth to be misused by our leaders in countries which posed no, or little, threat. The way we are headed, it soon will be us against the world. And in the endless array of "enemies" and "evildoers" Bush sees, but can't evidence, unfortunately we Americans are in for increasingly difficult times.

But also extremely troubling are two recent studies concerning estimates of Iraqi civillians lost to "collateral damage." And innocents matter, no matter where they are from.

First there is the presigous Lancet Study:

http://www.thelancet.com/webfiles/images/journals/lancet/s0140673606694919.pdf

Then comes the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Universities.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6040054.stm