Today on my way to church I heard some of This American Life on my local NPR station. I was so engrossed in the show, that I stayed in the car for an extra 10 or 15 minutes while the rain poured down. I finally tore myself away at the end of act 1 and listened to the rest via podcast. You can get the podcast here. (Not sure how long the link will work.)

The episode was entitled “What’s in a Number?” After listening to part of this show, I felt closer to the war than I have with any media story I’ve heard to date. I try really hard to stay out of any political debate. I’ve manage to stay out of the debate on the war. I never feel that I have enough information to really have an informed opinion. I have thoughts, but I wouldn’t want to sway anyone’s opinion based on my own flawed and incomplete information. However, I also believe that facts should be shared.

I had read about the study of civilians estimated to have died during the war in Iraq overseen by John Hopkins University. It turns out that two studies were performed, one in 2004 and one in 2006. Both studies were published in the Lancet and have been scrutinized for scientific accuracy and errors. From what I have heard of the two studies, they are scientifically sound, but invite more questions than they answer. As someone who tends to trust science more than media, especially media coming out of a war zone, I think everyone should be aware of both studies.

This podcast is a powerful telling of the human cost of war.