Observer on the Lancet study. posted by Richard Seymour

A week late, the Observer has managed to finally cover the deaths of 100,000 Iraqi civilians . Unfortunately, they have managed to get it ruinously wrong, so I've written them a letter:

Sir,

Your report on the Lancet study contains the following peculiar sentence:

"The report's authors admit it drew heavily on the rebel stronghold of Falluja, which has been plagued by fierce fighting. Strip out Falluja, as the study itself acknowledged, and the mor tality rate is reduced dramatically."

In fact, Falluja was specifically excluded from the final figure of 98,000 as is explained both in the report itself and by Gilbert Burnham, one of the report's authors, speaking to The New Republic Online. It is surprising that a quality newspaper like the Observer should not only cover the story a week late, but should also miss one of the most glaringly apparent facts about it.

Yours...

Indeed, it is hard to see how this could have been missed, given that it was mentioned in countless media reports about the results, and not just in the report itself. Is it possible that the Jamie Doward somehow neglected to scan the material he was reporting on? If so, what does this say about the import that the Observer attaches to the lives of Iraqi civilians about whom they were so impassioned only 18 months ago?