Blair rejects independent inquiry into Iraqi deaths
Tony Blair has told the House of Commons that he does not accept there is the need for an independent review and estimate of the number of civilians killed in Iraq.
Responding to a query from Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael at Prime Minister’s Question Time, Mr Blair said that the figures from Iraqi Minister of Health is the most accurate data there is.
His comments come in response to the publication of an open letter signed by 44 public figures, which calls for an independent inquiry into the deaths of Iraqis after the war.
Recently, an article published in the medical journal The Lancet claimed 100,000 Iraqis may have died in the aftermath of the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein from power. The Lancet based its research on a sample of fewer than 1,000 Iraqi households carried out by US scientists at John Hopkins University in October,
Other estimates at the death total range widely from 10,000 to 27,000.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Blair said that the figures from the Iraqi Ministry of Health – which puts the total at between 3,853 and 15,517 – are the most accurate figures available.
He argued that the best way to prevent civilian deaths was to “to stop the terrorism and start the democracy”, and those responsible for the deaths of civilians were primarily the terrorists.
The letter to the Prime Minister has been signed by five former ambassadors, including former ambassador to Iraq Sir Stephen Egerton, leading military officers, religious leaders and human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger.
It reads: “Your government is obliged under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population during military operations in Iraq … Without counting the dead and injured, no one can know whether Britain and its coalition partners are meeting these obligations.
“We urge you immediately to commission a comprehensive, independent inquiry to determine with the greatest possible accuracy how many Iraqis have died or been injured since March 2003, and the cause of the casualties.”
Signatories to the letter included Elizabeth Wilmshurst, the former Foreign Office lawyer who resigned over the March 2003 war, writer Harold Pinter and the bishops of Oxford and Coventry
Others include Sir Timothy Garden, director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, former assistant chief of defence staff Lord Garden and secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Iqbal Sacranie
Labour peer, Baroness Kennedy QC, also put her name to the letter.
The letter’s publication marks the start of a new joint campaign www.countthecasualties.org.uk, led by health charity Medact and the Iraq Body Count project.
