Context - The big picture on American deaths in Iraq [Excellent]

National Review ^ | August 28, 2003 | Michael Novak

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

8 Unapologetically Pro-Coalition News Links and Articles

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Osama bin Laden said before September 11, 2001 that Americans have become soft and surrender prone. Plainly, this is true of some Americans; but I don't think of most.

Please pass this on. An author honoring our troops by putting their sacrifices in perspective and telling the truth about their successes. Outstanding.

If you want on or off my pro-Coalition/anti-wanker ping list, just ping.

[Enterprise]

There are basically two groups who desperately want as many American military deaths and injuries as possible in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One - militant Islamics.

Two - Democrats/Liberals/Liberal media (The second is basically one group).

[Pan_Yans Wife]

This is an excellent article to pass along in email, so that those of us who are plagued by the numbers, can show truly how they add up.

The end of the article is very good... we are indebted to our soldiers for the freedom that they give to us.

[pfflier]

Very few people see the Iraq issue in perspective. This summary is excellent. Thanks for putting some logic and wisdom on FR.

Many Freepers are getting soft because they are bombarded with the daily liberal press releases of the negatives, and yes, before you flame me, I do grieve for each American lost.

However in the bean counting mode, more Americans (well mostly Americans...OK some are Americans) are killed in LA daily than in Iraq. Statistically, three times as many American military people die in daily traffic accidents in the US than die in Iraq. More Americans have died from West Nile virus that American combat losses. One thousand Englishmen have died from heat related issues this summer (since the end of major combat action in Iraq) and 10,000 Frenchmen have died from heat (since the end of major combat action in Iraq).

[Coop]

Outstanding article putting everything into perspective. There are a few FReepers who most certainly need to read and comprehend every word in this article, but I'm not going to ping them and give them a chance to soil yet another thread.

[ken5050]

RC..have you seen any stats on the number of US military deaths during training the last decade..

[ladtx]

In early August, for instance, in an American sweep north of Baghdad, while eight Americans were being killed, more than 300 Fedayeen who engaged them died in combat.

Hmm. Wonder why this number hasn't been mentioned in the mainstream press? I'm actually surprised FOX hasn't put out this number.

[Miss Marple]

Thanks for the article, RC! Last night they showed a graphic of the figures n Fox, and I noticed the disparity in combat and accidental deaths. I hadn't had time to look up the figures, but I am glad to see that Mr. Novak has done so and has made the point about how the press is treating the statistics.

[TheDon]

"Since March thousands of terrorists from around the world have flocked to Iraq to wreak death on Americans. They are still pouring in, drawn like moths to flame."

Nice line.

50 murders a day in America, let's add in the accidental deaths. What would the number be then? I was curious what the accidental death rate is for the military when they are at home in a military base.

[TheDon]

I've wondered about that as well. We have a rather pathetic press for being a free press. I pretty much assume that any reports of deaths on our side over there, mean at least the same, if not more, for the Saddam loyalists.

[cookcounty]

"So they started totaling all military deaths in Iraq, including those from accidents, which happen in military life every day, everywhere. ..."

It would be interesting for someone, for comparisons' sake, to research the total deaths that occurred during the 12-year "containment" of Saddam. I recall quite a few getting killed in Kuwait, some from hostile fire last November. I'll bet the total is well over 100.

[Soaring Feather]

bump

[McGavin999]

Our troops need to know that we understand this. I'm writing to a few of them, and they desperately want us to understand that they know what they're there for, they know that what they are doing is to protect us, and the only thing they fear is that we won't understand that.

[cookcounty]

" the 12-year "containment" of Saddam"

The only alternative suggested by the anti-war crowd was continued "containment," which they imply is "inexpensive."

Of course, the fact is, it cost many billion$$$$

and, more importantly, we paid in blood as well, for that "containment"

Of course, Cnn and Peter Jennings don't have enough analtic ability for the job.

[cookcounty]

"Cnn and Peter Jennings don't have enough analtic ability for the job."

and no analytic ability, either!

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[SuziQ]

Every terrorist who rushes to Baghdad to kill Americans is one less who is attacking Americans at home. The American strategy is to fight them in Iraq, and other places outside the U.S., rather than to sit and wait for them to come to harm us in New York, Washington, or Los Angeles.

AMEN!! I love Michael Novak!

[StarCMC]

The drumbeat regularity of one death every two days hurts even more.

I have been noticing this. I was telling Mr. StarCMC a couple of days ago that what bothers me about the constant reporting is that they are not doing it to honor the heroes, but it's almost as it they are using the deaths of these brave men as a battering ram to further their purposes. Anyone else notice that?

[HiJinx]

Well, looks like I tapped into the motherload - The Center for Army Lessons Learned at Ft. Leavenworth. There's probably more information there relevant to this topic than I can digest in a month, let alone in the next few minutes. I don't know if they allow civilian access to their library, but it's worth looking for.

As a teaser, I found this in a text document after searching for 'Accidental Deaths' on their site. It was posted to the "News from the Field" Knowledge Center in the "News Articles" folder.

by Carlla E. Xxxxx
U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine

Unintended injuries and accidental deaths are serious problems in the United States. New laws have been enacted, and new technologies have been developed to make our lives and communities safer. Despite these advances, the numbers of injuries and deaths 'by accident' continue to remain at a high level.

In 2001, the National Safety Council recorded 51,500 deaths occurring in the home and community; 43,400 deaths occurring from automobile crashes; and 5,200 people dying while at work ('Injury Facts,' 2001 edition). These statistics underscore the importance of a safety-minded attitude.

That's over 100,000 accidental deaths in the US in the general population in one year. I'll see if I can find a a link into this on a non-secure server...