>> The point I was making is that the study is far from the last word and simply sighting its results as fact ignores every other source.
>
>So far, despite being earth shattering, it appears to be the best estimate. I could have said "Is that worse that 66,000 dead Iraqis". Same point.

Exactly, the point is made by sighting widely accepted sources rather than a single questionable study.

Below is a tangent I do not feel like jumping into again. History will judge Bush, Blair, Howard, Musharef, et all. Playing the "what if" game accomplishes nothing.

For example:
What if Zarqawi had been given more time to to start his terror campaign against the Kurds?
What if Saddam had successfully got the UN sanctions lifted and began re-constituting his nuclear program?
What if I was Canadien?

>Bush administration has done a lot of bad things that have hurt and killed a lot of people based on largely false premises. Just think of how successful the war on terror could have been if:
>- the Iraq war money could have been spent on counter terrorism and counter insurgency in Afghanistan?
>- the US hadn't lost the favour of moderate muslims by attacking Iraq based on false premises
>- the CIA, dept of defence and the Bush administration hadn't been distracted by Iraq and could have focused brain and military power on the real war on terror
>- the 200,000 troops could have been used to fight terrorists
>- the Bush administration wouldn't have lost the backing of the American people by largely tricking them about Iraq
>- the Bush administration alienating tradional allies by attacking Iraq largely based on false premises
>- the secretary of defence and the vice president hadn't endorsed torture (water boarding and other violoations of the geneva convention) which almost certainly lead to what happened at Abu Grareb
>- hadn't set up the Guantanamo prisons which violated prisoners rights to due processor which both alienated moderate muslims and traditional allies
>- the bush administration hadn't set up (from what it appears) extraordinary rendition prisons in eastern europe, which alienationed tradition allies and moderate muslims