***Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - Day 12 - LIVE THREAD***

Multiple ^ | March 31st, 2003 | Various

[Nam Vet]

Naturally, I placed the last post on yesterday's thread, so I'm reposting.

I think your editorial was great. Just enough male 'bite' for my taste. My buddy in the Navy years ago ran the following ad in the paper under 'Wanted to Trade" after he visited a FRENCH skivie house. What ya think?...

Wanted to Trade One blind crab for TWO with no teeth.

Nam Vet

[spectr17]

His uncle is Gasoline Ali.

1st cousin to "Bowlin Ali"

[Swampmarine]

FOX said a dawn Marine raid (Shatra?) was going after "Chemical Ali". Anymore on this?

[Mr.Crimson]

Is he related at all to Mohammad Ali?

[Nam Vet]

I'm with you and nicollo

Nam Vet

[Mr.Crimson]

Australian for Beer?

[InShanghai]

New Poster Girl!

[MEG33]

Catchin up with laudry!

[TigersEye]

Another good analysis in #115. This is only day 12!!! We're kicking butt.

[Consort]

His father was the prospector, Tin Pan Ali.

[spectr17]

Forklift girl.

[Mr.Crimson]

There will always be naysayers

[Mr.Crimson]

ROTF

[texxie]

lol I bet if I think hard I will

[Nam Vet]

Tikrit is just as strong as Baghdad. JMHO

Nam Vet

[InShanghai]

(In my best Homer Simpson voice) MMMMMMMM....FORRRRKLIFT GIRRRLLLL..... LOL!

[merrin]

There will always be naysayers

And they'll often be right.

[texxie]

lol evidently I don't either so says MrC

[JLS]

Maybe the difference will lead to long run changes but the hand wringing is pretty constant because as I said in another post they need a story every day. Bombing day after day become boring, so they like quick wars.

[Henchster]

During WW2, American B-17 bomber crews stationed in England in 1942, (the Eighth Air Force,) lost 7 percent of its bombers on raids. Such high attrition rates meant the average bomber crew of ten could expect to survive only 14 or 15 missions. Unfortunately, the standard tour of duty at that time was 25 missions!

Yet, today, our troops are actually safer in Iraq than citizens in the United States!

Impossible you say?

Our CONFIRMED number of U.S. dead in the twelve days of the war: 40 (2 by the grenade frag attack)

Just for reference, in the 1991 Gulf war we had 148 battle deaths, 145 nonbattle deaths, 467 wounded in action. We had more than 500,000 troops in theater for about 180 days. 129 of those fatalities were in one Scud missile strike on a barracks in Saudi Arabia. Without that one incident, our troops would have had a lower mortality rate than civilians at home.

In 1999, the CDC said the average mortality rate for all Americans was 877 per 100,000. The U.S. Census Bureau says there are currently about 290 million people in the U.S. We take 290,000,000 / 100,000 = 2,900, then multiply by 877 = 2,543,300 deaths per annum / 365 days = 6,968 deaths per day, more than a few of them in violent, bloody, murders.

So the expected mortality for the 400,000 soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait, as well as on the ships, would be a little more than 9 1/2 per day (6,968/290,000,000*400,000 = 9.61) Right now, at 40 in 12 days, we're averaging "only" 3.33 per day. That's almost three times better than the mortality of stateside Americans!

If you just watched ABCCBSCNNNBC and listened to Peter Arnett, you'd think we were still flying B-17s against the Luftwaffe.