The Wall Street Journal-20080118-Soros Had No Control Over Iraqi Casualty Study
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Soros Had No Control Over Iraqi Casualty Study
Your Jan. 9 editorial, "The Lancet's Political Hit," misses the mark. Neither George Soros nor his foundation the Open Society Institute had any control or influence over the design or results of the study of Iraqi civilian deaths, conducted by two leading American universities, MIT and Johns Hopkins.
Indeed, OSI joined other donors to support the project after it was commissioned and provided a minority share of the funding.
The Open Society Institute does believe that the impact of the war on Iraq's civilians merits serious independent study. A recent World Health Organization report seems to go some distance toward establishing the real number of casualties. It makes clear that the numbers are far greater than the statistics the U.S. government uses.
We welcome this larger effort, which likely is more accurate. The WHO recognizes that the difficult war circumstances mean that its figures may be understated.
Laura Silber
Director of Public Affairs
The Open Society Institute
New York
