Argument challenged on Iraqi voter turnout

Re “Cooking the books on Iraq,” Opinion, June 3

Anthony H. Cordesman condemns the Defense Department’s report on Iraq as “incompetent” and “flawed.” He claims that there is “no conceivable way” 77% of the Iraqi population could vote if 40% of the population is younger than 14.

But, given the CIA’s estimate of Iraq’s total population of 26.8 million, and considering that 60%, or 16 million people, are adults, and if only 12.2 million voters turned out, then about 75% of the “eligible” electorate voted.

It seems Cordesman is doing some “cooking” of his own.

JOSEPH J. MARTINO

Tarzana

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I am not a supporter of the invasion of Iraq; I think it has placed us in a very dangerous position. But after reading Cordesman’s article, I have serious questions about my concern. The first example he uses to demonstrate how the report misleads Congress is its misstatement of the Iraqi vote turnout for the December 2005 election. He then demonstrates through math and demographics that the turnout of eligible voters is spot on with what the report states.

If this expert uses these types of examples to indicate our failure in Iraq, perhaps there is indeed real progress. I give Cordesman an F for presenting a flawed expert opinion.

CLAY DUKE

Ventura