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  2. IBC goes after Lancet study yet again

IBC goes after Lancet study yet again

By tlambert on April 7, 2007.

The IBC is chastising publications that cite the Lancet estimate of Iraqi deaths. lenin comments:

So what is the point of IBC expending so much energy and writing to various organisations to cast baseless or irrelevant aspersions on the Lancet study in this bizarre, ritualistic fashion? As others have pointed out, they don't seem to make this much effort to correct news media who misuse their figures by claiming that they represent the total number of deaths, which even the IBC doesn't claim. As I said before, its about defending their turf. Since their method involves relying on media reports, media reports couldn't possibly miss the greater number of deaths. Since that is so, a higher estimate, a shockingly higher one, could not possibly be correct. And they spend a lot of time writing to various organisations to point this out. They seem to feel quite strongly about it: one of their staffers recently called yours truly "scum" for doubting their criticisms, while John Sloboda told BBC Newsnight that the critics of IBC are comparable to terrorists in their "mindset".

No prizes for guessing who the abusive IBC staffer was.

Tags
LancetIraq

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Your reading Lenin? Sheesh. Is this a small world or what? I found his place from Charlie Stross's a while ago.

I've taken to pointing out the IBC's appalling conduct on this to any sites I run across that are using their figures or linking to them. And I've had some success at that.