Iraqi civilians pay with their lives

JAMES McGRATH (Letters, December 1) accuses me of misquoting the Lancet report on deaths in Iraq, and says that the medical journal’s figure of 100,000 was a “projection” of what the figures might be if the war were to continue indefinitely.

I really do wish that no one had been killed in this war, but the Lancet report stated: “A survey of deaths in Iraqi households estimates that as many as 100,000 more people may have died throughout the country in the 18 months since the US-led invasion than would be expected based on the death rate before the war.”

The death rate in Iraq has increased significantly over the 13 months since this Lancet report.