100,000 Iraqis dead!

Well, maybe not

Excerpt:

The report's authors derive this figure by estimating how many
Iraqis died in a 14-month period before the U.S. invasion, conducting
surveys on how many died in a similar period after the invasion began
(more on those surveys later), and subtracting the difference. That
difference - the number of "extra" deaths in the post-invasion period -
signifies the war's toll. That number is 98,000. But read the passage
that cites the calculation more fully:

We estimate there were 98,000 extra deaths (95% CI 8000-194 000) during
the post-war period.

Readers who are accustomed to perusing statistical documents know what
the set of numbers in the parentheses means. For the other 99.9 percent
of you, I'll spell it out in plain English - which, disturbingly, the
study never does. It means that the authors are 95 percent confident
that the war-caused deaths totaled some number between 8,000 and
194,000. (The number cited in plain language - 98,000 - is roughly at
the halfway point in this absurdly vast range.)

This isn't an estimate. It's a dart board.

I say:

The Lancet admits the article was rushed to print. Why?

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