Chilcot inquiry accused of fixating on west and ignoring real victims

Iraq Body Count group claims attention paid to Iraqi casualties has been derisory

Jonathan Steele, The Guardian/UK, August 27, 2010


The Iraq Body Count group has criticised the inquiry led by John Chilcot, above, for ignoring Iraqi casualties. Photograph: Matt Dunham/PA

The Chilcot inquiry has “fixated” on decision-making in Whitehall and Washington, obsessed over the ”war at home” and given “derisory” attention to the plight of the main victims, the Iraq Body Count (IBC) claims today.

Releasing correspondence with Sir John Chilcot, the IBC, which is widely considered as the most reliable database of Iraqi civilian deaths, says a proper “Iraq War Inquest” may be the only way to fill the gap his inquiry has left.

The inquiry closed its public hearings last month after seeing 140 witnesses but none dealt specifically with civilian casualties, which the IBC calculates as between 97,000 and 106,000.

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