Bad Numbers from Any Perspective

The following is a correction made by the BBC to a story that ran on BBC (TV) News:


Iraq Health Ministry Figures

On Thursday, January 27 2005, the Iraqi Ministry of Health released to the BBC's Panorama programme statistics which stated that for the six-month period from 1 July 2004 to 1 January 2005:

* 3,274 people in Iraq were killed and 12, 657 injured in conflict related violence

* 2,041 of these deaths were the result of "military operations", in which 8,542 people were injured

* 1,233 deaths were the result of "terrorist operations"

These figures were based on records from Iraqi public hospitals.

The BBC reported these figures as meaning that the deaths and injuries resulting from "military operations" were the result of actions by the Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces.

Today, the Iraqi Ministry of Health has issued a statement clarifying matters that were the subject of several conversations with the BBC before the report was published, and denying that this conclusion can be drawn from the figures relating to military operations. It states that those recorded as killed in military action included Iraqis killed by terrorists, not only those killed by Coalition forces or Iraqi security forces; and that those recorded as killed in military action included terrorists themselves, and Iraqi security forces.

The BBC regrets mistakes in its published and broadcast reports yesterday.