Immediately after the US/UK invasion, there was a brief opportunity for civil society to establich the human cost of the war. The initiatives which rose to that challenge, or attempted to, are reviewed here.
Their efforts, like IBC's up to that time, were to prove incomplete not only from lack of resources and reliable data, as the article discusses, but because only a single phase � the invasion leading to 'regime change' � of the war was over.
| Project name: | Iraq Body Count |
|---|---|
| Organisation (if different) | - |
| Web address | http://www.iraqbodycount.net |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Hamit Dardagan, John Sloboda |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | January 2003 - ongoing |
| Scope | Comprehensive - all media reported civilian deaths |
| Sources | Indirect - press, media and official NGO reports |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - extensive |
| Stated aims (if published) | “A Human Security project to establish an independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq resulting directly from military actions by the USA and its allies in 2003.” |
| Comments | Provides online database and web-counters downloadable to participating web-sites. Also publishes periodical comment and analysis on civilian casualties in Iraq. |
| Project name: | US Bombing Watch |
| Organisation (if different) | Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace (CCMEP) |
| Web address | http://www.ccmep.org/usbombingwatch/2003.htm |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | - |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | January 1999 - ongoing |
| Scope | Limited - deaths through US/UK bombing raids only |
| Sources | Indirect - press and media reports |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Not applicable |
| Stated aims (if published) | [A CCMEP service recording “When was the last time the U.S. Bombed Iraq?”] |
| Comments | Also collects and publishes news, comment and photographs relating to the war in Iraq and its aftermath |
| Project name: | Operation Iraqi Freedom Total Casualty Report |
| Organisation (if different) | Center for Defence Information, Washington (CDI) |
| Web address | http://www.cdi.org/iraq/casualties.cfm |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Armon Caglar, David Worn |
| Contact details | , |
| Period covered | 21 March 2003 - 6 May 2003(?) |
| Scope | Limited - so far only Iraqi government sources, which ended first week of April |
| Sources | Indirect - press, media and official reports |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | “Until reporters gain unfettered access throughout the whole of Iraq, it will continue to be our position that there is simply no way to clearly ascertain the true extent of Iraqi civilian casualties. When such a time does arrive, rest assured that we will give these figures the coverage that they deserve.” |
| Comments | Also lists coalition military deaths |
| Project name: | Casualties of the 2003 Iraq War |
| Organisation (if different) | - |
| Web address | http://www.wagner.edu/faculty/users/pjani/casualties_of_iraq_war.htm |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Pranav Jani |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | 19 March 2003 - ongoing |
| Scope | Comprehensive - media reported casualties |
| Sources | Indirect - press and media reports |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | - |
| Comments | Covers both civilian and military deaths and injuries. |
| Project name: | A list of civilian victims of the war in Iraq |
| Organisation (if different) | Swiss Foreign Ministry |
| Web address | - |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss Foreign Minister (instigator) |
| Contact details | - |
| Period covered | Proposed 30/31 March - aborted 1 April |
| Scope | Comprehensive |
| Sources | Unspecified |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | “To give an overview of the number of civilian casualties and to drive home the reality of conflict.” |
| Comments | Project aborted two days after it was announced - it would have been the first one of its kind by a government |
| Project name: | Civilian casualties in the 2003 Iraq War: A Compendium of Accounts and Reports |
| Organisation (if different) | Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA) |
| Web address | http://www.comw.org/pda/0305iraqcasualtydata.html |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Melissa Murphy, Carl Conetta |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | 19 March 2003 - 15 May 2003 |
| Scope | Limited - selected multiple-death incidents only |
| Sources | Indirect - Western press, media and NGO reports |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - extensive |
| Stated aims (if published) | “To serve as a database for further investigation of the modes and dynamics of conflict that generate non-combatant casualties.” |
| Comments | Includes direct quotes from sources it uses |
| Project name: | Evaluation of the attacks on the civilian population of Baghdad |
| Organisation (if different) | Spanish Brigade Against the War; Arab Cause Solidarity Campaign |
| Web address | http://www.nodo50.org/csca/agenda2003/con_iraq/informe-brigadas_eng.pdf |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Javier Barandiaran and 8 others |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | 20 March - 15 April |
| Scope | Limited- coalition strikes on Baghdad 20 March - 15 April only |
| Sources | Direct - completion of questionnaires by surviving civilian victims and relatives, supplemented by hospital records |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - extensive |
| Stated aims (if published) | “To indicate the breadth, systematic nature and severity with respect to the number of civilian victims and material damage caused by the Anglo-American attacks.” |
| Comments | Detailed reports relating to 42 attacks organised in date order, with supplementary analyses of repeated attacks on the same target, types of weapon, ages of the injured, areas of Baghdad hit, and hospitals visited. |
| Project name: | Death toll in 19 Baghdad hospitals |
| Organisation (if different) | Knight Ridder Newspapers |
| Web address | http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/5772622.htm |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Matthew Schofield, Nancy A. Youssef, and Juan O. Tamayo |
| Contact details | - |
| Period covered | 19 March - 9 April |
| Scope | Limited - deaths in 19 Baghdad hospitals only |
| Sources | Direct - hospital records |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | - |
| Comments | Only 7 of the 19 hospitals surveyed are named in the press reports |
| Project name: | Baghdad’s death toll assessed |
| Organisation (if different) | Los Angeles Times |
| Web address | http://www.peaceuk.co.uk/archive/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=568 |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Laura King |
| Contact details | - |
| Period covered | 20 March – 24 April |
| Scope | Limited - deaths in the municipality of Baghdad only |
| Sources | Direct - hospital records, Islamic burial groups and others working in Baghdad |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | - |
| Comments | Only 9 of the 27 hospitals surveyed are named in the report |
| Project name: | Associated Press Tally |
| Organisation (if different) | - |
| Web address | http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0603/10iraqdead.html |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Niko Price and at least 7 other AP writers |
| Contact details | - |
| Period covered | 20 March - 20 April |
| Scope | Limited - hospital-recorded deaths in “accessible” areas only |
| Sources | Direct - hospital records |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | “Several surveys have already looked at civilian casualties within
Baghdad, but the AP tally is the first attempt to gauge the scale of such deaths from one end of the country to the other, from Mosul in the north to Basra in the south.” |
| Comments | Few of the hospitals are named but a breakdown is given by "key cities"; study openly admits to incompleteness |
| Project name: | Survey of civilian deaths in Iraq |
| Organisation (if different) | Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) |
| Web address | http://iraqvictimsfund.org/action.htm |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Marla Ruzicka |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | March 2003 - ongoing (covering entire war period up to present) |
| Scope | Comprehensive |
| Sources | Direct - interviews with victims and witnesses, supplemented by hospital records |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | “Getting assistance to the innocent families that are harmed, and getting a proper accounting of war.” |
| Comments | Employing 150 local volunteers surveyors to assist in tasks such as interviewing victims' families |
| Project name: | Survey of dead, injured, and missing |
| Organisation (if different) | the Iraqi Red Crescent |
| Web address | - |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Haidar Taie [Tari], director of tracing missing persons |
| Contact details | - |
| Period covered | Assumed March 2003 - ongoing |
| Scope | Comprehensive |
| Sources | Not stated, but assumed to be direct |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | - |
| Comments | Hampered by US forces preventing access to some areas that saw heavy fighting (as reported 18 May) - project is now one month overdue |
| Project name: | Survey of deaths through unexploded ordnance in Northern Iraq |
| Organisation (if different) | Mines Advisory Group (MAG) |
| Web address | http://www.mag.org.uk/magtest/deadlygame/all.htm |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Sean Sutton |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | April 2003 - assumed ongoing |
| Scope | Limited - deaths from unexploded munitions only |
| Sources | Direct - field workers and hospital records |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | No |
| Stated aims (if published) | - |
| Comments | MAG's main activityis the safe removal of UXO - reporting is a secondary task |
| Project name: | The short, medium and long-term health effects of war on Iraq |
| Organisation (if different) | MedAct |
| Web address | http://www.medact.org/tbx/pages/sub.cfm?id=607 |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Gillian Reeve |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | Assumed ongoing |
| Scope | Comprehensive |
| Sources | Direct and indirect - “health professionals, aid agencies, academics and the media” |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | Yes - partial |
| Stated aims (if published) | “Its key objective is to obtain and publicise information about the health consequences of the war... topics to be covered include immediate and long-term mortality and morbidity; damage to health services; water, electricity, sanitation and nutritional data; environmental damage; physical and mental health; maternal and child health and the health of other vulnerable groups; and the effects of specific weapons/munitions.” |
| Comments | “The full overview” is due for publication in the autumn. |
| Project name: | Study on civilian suffering in war |
| Organisation (if different) | Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University |
| Web address | http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/cchrp/index.shtml |
| Name(s) of principal investigators | Sarah Sewall |
| Contact details | |
| Period covered | Assumed ongoing |
| Scope | Limited - unspecified sample of deaths |
| Sources | Unspecified |
| Explicit data-extraction methodology published? | No |
| Stated aims (if published) | “To bolster US credibility but also contribute to better military planning next time.” |
| Comments | - |