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Help us continue to document this war’s human losses.

Help us continue to make the data freely available to all.

And help us continue to humanise the Iraqi victims behind the numbers.

Five years after the invasion Iraq Body Count (IBC) not only continues to keep a firm day-by-day count, it also maintains the largest public list of named and identified Iraqi dead.

IBC’s work remains a key and unique resource for institutions, researchers, media, and individual citizens.

But IBC is still run by volunteers on a shoestring. Billions are being spent on this war, but almost nothing on recording its Iraqi victims.

If you think we are doing an important job, please don’t leave the website without making a donation.

Your contribution will ensure that the Iraq war’s
civilian victims continue to be visibly and
verifiably documented.

   

Who has used IBC, and for what? Here are the main categories of use, with examples of each.

Press and media uses of IBC

IBC receives several specific press and media enquiries every week for data and comment on civilian casualties.

More innovative examples of data-oriented coverage include:

Website applications of IBC data to display regularly updated cumulative data on trends and distributions of deaths: Iraq violence, in figures (BBC 2005 & ongoing). Another noteworthy use is a BBC-designed map of bombings killing 10 civilians or more in post-invasion Baghdad combining IBC and BBC records: Baghdad: Mapping the violence (BBC Feb 2007)

Graphic displays of trends based on IBC data have included:

The Guardian. Friday December 29th 2006,“Life in Iraq: a Guide in Numbers.”

Trend charts using IBC data, Guardian 29 Dec 2006

Reuters. 16 Mar 2007. “Iraq: Four years on”

Trend charts using IBC data, Reuters Mar 2007

Lists of victims or victim categories to signal the pervasive impact on every sector of Iraqi society:

Daily Mirror 21 July 2005. Iraq, the Human Tragedy (lists every known occupation of victims).

Revealed: Iraq’s Civilian Death Toll. The Independent. Wednesday 20th July 2005. Full front page coverage in connection with the publication of IBC’s “Dossier of Civilian Casualties, 2003-2005.”

The following are examples of IBC-supplied data and commentary being used to assess official Pentagon data:

US quietly issues estimate of Iraqi civilian casualties. New York Times. October 30th 2005.

Counting Civilian Deaths in Iraq The Fact Checker. Washington Post. October 1st 2007.

Iraqi Civilian Deaths, Part II The Fact Checker (follow-up). Washington Post. October 19th 2007.

The Reality in Iraq? Depends on Who’s Counting The Public Editor. New York Times. October 7th 2007.

Examples of press and media comment and analysis involving IBC work:

But who’s counting: the tricky business of trying to tally civilian deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq. Macleans, Canada.

Counting Iraq’s Dead. Al Jazeera.net. May 11th 2007. TV news and comment item, including interview with IBC co-founder, John Sloboda.

A number of press and media articles focus on what can be known about civilian casualties in Iraq:

Many organizations keep track of Iraqi casualties — but no one knows the correct number for sure Associated Press, 16 Jan 2007

Some press and media coverage has focused on differences between IBC’s totals and other figures, including the much larger estimates published in the medical journal Lancet. See elsewhere on the site for IBC comment on the Lancet studies. This is one of the more balanced commentaries of this type:

Michael Thieren. Deaths in Iraq: how many, and why it matters. OpenDemocracy.net 18th October 2006

© Iraq Body Count 2003-2007