U.S., Iraqi Officials Dispute Casualty Estimate
By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service
[Excerpt] Iraqi government officials said the Lancet report was inflated and “exceeds the reality in an unreasonable way.” At the Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld noted that many Iraqis have indeed died since the war began, and he pointed the finger at Muslim extremists who are killing innocent Muslim people.
“They do it aggressively, they do it purposely, and they do it successfully,” he said. “It doesn't take a genius to kill unarmed civilian people who are going to a shop or operating at a gas station or functioning in a shopping area. And what we have is Muslim extremists killing Muslims and attempting to take over that country, … notwithstanding the fact that over 95 percent of the Iraqi people don't want that to happen, and 12 million of them went out and voted, at risk to their lives, so that it would not happen.”
