Iraqi war toll at just under 10,000

A recent US opinion poll has found that respondents’ median estimate of Iraqi deaths resulting from the March 2003 invasion is 9,890.

This is considerably less than the most recent Presidential estimate in December 2005, that 30,000 Iraqi civilians “more or less” have perished as a result of the invasion. (But then who could blame US citizens for not particularly heeding this President.)

On the other hand, the poll found that respondents’ estimation of US military deaths is “right on target” at about 3,000. And...

Given a range of possible words to describe their feelings about the overall situation in Iraq, people were most likely to identify with “worried,” selected by 81 per cent of those surveyed.

It’s, of course, possible to overstate the sagacity of popular wisdom. While the numbers remain and are forever in flux, commonsense seems increasingly uncommon.