Body Count: casualty figures after 10 years of the "War on terror"

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This investigation, conducted by Physicians for Social Responsibility in collaboration with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Physicians for Global Survival, aims to provide a realistic estimate of the total body count in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan over 12 years of the "war on terrorism." It reviews major studies and data on victim numbers, utilizing additional reports and statistics on military offensives to assess their completeness and plausibility. Interpolation is applied to estimate figures for periods lacking information. Thirteen years into the conflict, no equivalent study has emerged. The investigation concludes that approximately 1 million people have died in Iraq, 220,000 in Afghanistan, and 80,000 in Pakistan, totaling around 1.3 million. This figure is about ten times higher than what the public and decision-makers are aware of, as propagated by media and major NGOs, and serves as a conservative estimate. The total deaths could exceed 2 million, while a figure below 1 million is highly unlikely. The research relies on individual studies and data from UN organizations, government bodies, and NGOs. While estimates for Afghanistan and Pakistan are based on reported deaths, Iraq's figures include representative surveys aimed at determining mortality rate increases since the war began, making the data more reliable despite the inherent challenges of extrapolation.