Iraqi Civilian Death Toll 151,000 - "Not Our Fault" Says White House

The latest study of Iraqi civilian casualties claims 151,000 were killed in the first three years following the American-led invasion. The estimate was reached through a survey of 10,000 households, five times the number surveyed in the earlier John Hopkins study that calculated civilian deaths at 600,000.

So, 151,000 it is, then. The Iraqi government says it believes that number and so, apparently, does the White House. But, in the same breath, the White House pounced on the opportunity to absolve itself of all responsibility for these losses:

"The unmistakable fact is that the vast majority of these deaths are caused by the willful, murderous intentions of extremists committed to taking innocent life," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Fratto conveniently omitted that these deaths also occured when the United States, as an occupying power, was obliged to provide security to prevent these killings but was completely unable to do that because it went in "on the cheap" with only a fraction of the troops it knew were needed to secure the country. In civilized societies that's called "criminal negligence causing death." That too is an unmistakeable fact.