On 09-Dec-04 Ray Thomas wrote:
> The Hansard statement under the name of Baroness Symons
> of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office did at least use the
> word 'reliable'. Blair in Parliament yesterday referred to
> the hospital figures as "the most accurate survey there is".
>
> Does Blair know the difference between a survey and a count?
> Does he know the difference between 'accuracy' and 'reliability'?
There is an interesting Guardian article today about this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1369497,00.html
("Blair rejects call for count of Iraqi deaths; Scale of killing
obscured by refusal to collect data")
and leading article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1369496,00.html
("Dead reckoning ")
For the full sickly flavour read the full text [source Hansard]:
Q8. [203005] Mr. Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD):
Does the Prime Minister accept that, for this country to comply
with its international legal obligations, we must hold a full,
independent inquiry into the number of civilian casualties in
Iraq since the invasion last year?
The Prime Minister: I do not accept that. In our view the figures
from the Iraqi Ministry of Health, which has surveyed the hospitals
there, constitute the most accurate survey that there is, but me
[sic] just make this point to the hon. Gentleman and, through him,
to the authors of the letter today: those who are killing innocent
people in Iraq today--those who are responsible for innocent people
dying--are the terrorists and insurgents who want to stop the
elections happening in Iraq. Any action that the multinational
force or the Iraqi army is taking in Iraq is intended to defeat
those people, who are blowing up innocent people, preventing
people from joining the police force and killing innocent aid
workers--killing anyone trying to make the country better.
So let us be quite clear about this. If we want to stop any
civilian deaths in Iraq, the best way to do so is for the hon.
Gentleman and others to come behind the electoral process, come
behind the UN-appointed Iraqi Government and ensure that we stop
the terrorism and start the democracy.
Note that the Iraqi Ministry of Health "has surveyed the hospitals"!
Note also the immediate veering away from the point of Alistair
Carmichael's question: that we have an international obligation.
> I have sent Blair an email asking whether he consulted the ONS
> or GSS before rejecting the 100,000 estimate.
>
> I believe that I will be entitled to a reply under the Freedom
> of Information Act that comes into force next month.
and the best of luck ...
Ted.
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Date: 09-Dec-04 Time: 12:05:57
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