Greenpeace Puts Gulf War Toll at 200,000

WASHINGTON — The environmental activist group Greenpeace claimed Wednesday that as many as 200,000 people died as a result of the war with Iraq and that 5 million to 6 million were displaced.

The report--based on interviews with international relief workers, reporters, U.S. officials and news reports--estimates that 5,000 to 15,000 Iraqi civilians died in the massive allied bombardments of Iraq.

But overall, allied actions “could be seen as paving the way for positive new standards for humanitarian and military conduct,” the authors said.

“Iraq’s gross behavior, particularly its devastation of the natural environment, serves as a sad contrast,” they added.

The report, the first comprehensive published survey of the war’s results, also estimated that:

* The war killed 100,000 to 120,000 Iraqi troops.

* 4,000 to 16,000 Iraqis have died of starvation and disease since the war ended.

* 20,000 Iraqis died in the monthlong civil war set off by the Kurdish and Shiite Muslim rebellions against President Saddam Hussein.

* 15,000 to 30,000 Kurds and other displaced people have died in refugee camps and on the road.