Iraq, Three Years Later

UPI

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 — One month shy of three years into the Iraq war is a good time to take stock of the situation. Is the world better off today after U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003? Is Iraq better off? Are the United States any safer? Are its allies in Europe and elsewhere more secure?

Hardly.

The toll in human lives is a heavy one: more than 100,000 Iraqis killed according to a 2004 study by Lancet, the British medical journal. Other sources place the toll higher, at 250,000. However, more conservative estimates are provided by Iraqbodycount.org, an independent London-based non-profit volunteer organization. They offer two sets of numbers: a high of 32,041 and a low of 28,427. Either way, it’s a lot of bodies.

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