There are some amazing numbers in this story! Bob -------------- > The unreported cost of war: at least 827 American wounded > > > Julian Borger, Washington > Monday August 4, 2003 > The Guardian > > US military casualties from the occupation of Iraq have been more than twice > the number most Americans have been led to believe because of an > extraordinarily high number of accidents, suicides and other non-combat > deaths in the ranks that have gone largely unreported in the media. > Since May 1, when President George Bush declared the end of major combat > operations, 52 American soldiers have been killed by hostile fire, according > to Pentagon figures quoted in almost all the war coverage. But the total > number of US deaths from all causes is much higher: 112. > > The other unreported cost of the war for the US is the number of American > wounded, 827 since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. > > Unofficial figures are in the thousands. About half have been injured since > the president's triumphant appearance on board the aircraft carrier USS > Lincoln at the beginning of May. Many of the wounded have lost limbs. > > The figures are politically sensitive. The number of American combat deaths > since the start of the war is 166 - 19 more than the death toll in the first > Gulf war. > > The passing of that benchmark last month erased the perception, popular at > the time Baghdad fell, that the US had scored an easy victory. > > According to a Gallup poll, 63% of Americans still think Iraq was worth > going to war over, but a quarter want the troops out now, and another third > want a withdrawal if the casualty figures continue to mount. > > In fact, the total death toll this time is 248 - including accidents and > suicides - and as the number of non-combat deaths and serious injuries > becomes more widely known, the erosion of public confidence is likely to > continue, posing a threat to Mr Bush's prospects of re-election, which at > the beginning of May had seemed a foregone conclusion. > > Military observers say it is unusual, even in a "low-intensity" guerrilla > war such as the situation seen in Iraq, for non-combat deaths to outnumber > combat casualties. > > The Pentagon does not tabulate the cause of those deaths, but according to > an American website that has been tracking official reports, Iraq Coalition > Casualty Count, 23 American soldiers have died in car or helicopter > accidents since May 1, while 12 have been killed in accidents with weapons > or explosives. > > Three deaths have been categorised as "possible suicides", three have died > from illness, and three from drowning. The rest are unexplained. > > Wounded American soldiers continue to be flown back to the US at a > relentless rate, in twice-weekly transport flights to Andrews air force base > near Washington. > > Hospital staff are working 70- or 80-hour weeks, and the Walter Reed army > hospital in Washington is so full that it has taken over beds normally > reserved for cancer patients to handle the influx, according to a report on > CBS television. > > Meanwhile, at the nearby national naval medical centre in Bethesda, new > marine injuries are delivered almost daily by a medical plane known as the > Nightingale. > > The Pentagon figure for "wounded in action" in Iraq is 827, but here again > the total number of injuries appears to be much higher. > > The estimate given by central command in Qatar is 926, but according to > Lieutenant-Colonel Allen DeLane, who is in charge of the airlift of the > wounded into Andrews air base, that too is understated. > > "Since the war has started, I can't give you an exact number because that's > classified information, but I can say to you over 4,000 have stayed here at > Andrews, and that number doubles when you count the people that come here to > Andrews and then we send them to other places like Walter Reed and Bethesda, > which are in this area also," Col DeLane told National Public Radio. > > He said 90% of injuries were directly war-related. > > Some of that number may involve double-counting - if a soldier stays at the > Andrews clinic on the way to Washington and then again on the way back to > the war or back home, for example. But the actual number of wounded still > appears to be much higher than the official figures. > > "When the facility where I'm at started absorbing the people coming back > from theatre [in April], those numbers went up significantly - I'd say over > 1,200," Col DeLane said. > > "That number even went up higher in the month of May, to about 1,500, and > continues to increase." > > > > _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
