LONDON, October 12, 2006 -- The respectable British Medical Journal, The Lancent (published since 1832: http://www.thelancet.com/about), reported today that an estimated 655 000 more Iraqis have died as a consequence of the March 2003 military invasion of Iraq than would have been expected in a non-conflict situation. http://www.thelancet.com/

On October 11, 2006, in a Rose Garden (White House) news conference, President George W. Bush was publicly questioned about the report in the British Medical Journal:

QUESTION [REPORTER]: "Thank you, Mr. President. Back on Iraq, a group of American and Iraqi health officials today released a report saying that 655,000 Iraqis have died since the Iraq war. That figure is 20 times the figure that you cited in December at 30,000. Do you care to amend or update your figure? And do you consider this a credible report?"

PRESIDENT BUSH: "No, I don't consider it a credible report. Neither does General Casey and neither do Iraqi officials. (WATCH BUSH REJECT THE STUDY FINDINGS AS "NOT CREDIBLE" -- 1:33 ).

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/11/bush.transcript/

However, shortly after Bush officially announced that the report's findings were "not credible," a Defense Department spokesman refused to back up Mr. Bush's public claim and refused to comment directly on the estimate. "The Department of Defense always regrets the loss of any innocent life in Iraq or anywhere else," said Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros. "The coalition takes enormous precautions to prevent civilian deaths and injuries."

"We're very confident with the results," said Dr. Gilbert Burnham, a Johns Hopkins physician and epidemiologist. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001442.html

Pentagon's refusal to support Mr. Bush's attempt to discredit the report on the human cost of Bush's 2003 Iraqi invasion may be indicative of the Pentagon's evolving take on Bush-Cheney as the principle architects of an ill-conceived, reckless, and ideologically-driven foreign policy which has directly cost Pentagon an increasingly troublesome involvement in a continuing Iraqi quagmire.

It is evident that the option of waiting and not jumping the Bush's sinking ship of non-existing WMD's, fraud, false public statements, and official public deception may not be the type of options that the top brass would want to presently adopt without any hesitation.

After all, it was Bush-Cheney leadership which directly involved the Pentagon in the historical tragedy of having caused needless human deaths of more than one half million individuals

BUSH : "Sorry to Oil the Low Body Count of Murdered Iraqi Civilians, the Carpet Bombing of Iraqi Civilians, the Salvador Option in Iraq, the Low Body Count of US Troops Killed in Iraq, and the Oil For Bombs Program in Iraq but Oil comes First. FILL HER UP ??????????"