Opponents of the liberation of Iraq, such as the BBC, constantly recycle footage and stories of civilian deaths at the hands of United States or British forces, and of course any innocent death is tragic.  However, many more deaths would have occurred if either of the two alternatives to war, continuing sanctions or doing nothing, had been followed. The following is a summary of the death toll in some recent Iraqi conflicts.

Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)

Figures widely disputed but probably between 500,000 - 1 million deaths 

Iraqis 2-375,000, Iranians 3-600,000 

1987-8 "Anfal Campaign" against the Kurds

200,000 according to the Kurds.  50-100,000 according to Human Right’s Watch.

These include 6-7,000 deaths from chemical poisoning with mustard gas, Sarin and VX, in Halabja on or around 16 March 1988.

First Gulf War (incl. Operation Desert Storm) Jan - Feb 1991

20-100,000 Iraqi soldiers and 2,300 civilian deaths. 

United States: 269 soldiers killed

1991 suppression of the Kurdish insurrection Northern Iraq

Thousands of Iraqi Kurds died. 

1991 suppression of the Marsh Arab rebellion Southern Iraq

30,000 to 60,000 deaths

Iraqi political executions

An estimated 3,000 prisoners (mostly political) have been executed since 1997. 

Deaths due to UN sanctions

Initial reports (Lancet 1995) of sanctions causing the deaths of 567,000 Iraqi children were an overestimate.  Recent estimates (Richard Garfield) for the cumulative total of excess deaths among children under five between 1990 and 2000 are approximately 350,000.

The US/UK liberation of Iraq April 2003

US and British forces 136 dead

Iraqi forces 2,320 (US estimates).

Iraqi civilians 1,250 (Iraqi estimates).

These numbers will of course rise as the war goes on.  

Jim Thornton, Nottingham, 12 April 2003

25 Sept 2005 update

Iraq body count now estimates the number of civilians killed since April 2003 as between 26,092 and 29,401.