SwiftVets.com

[fortdixlover]

This is an interesting rebuttal to LLL ********:

From http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=19725_Damned_Lies_and_Statistics&only

----------------------------------------------------------

Damned Lies and Statistics

I received this email from a reader on Sunday evening (but as usual my email is so backed up that I didn’t get to it until now). I’m going to post the whole thing, because it gives the lie to much of the incessant defeatism of the left/media in a powerful way:

Charles,

I thought it might be important to point out an interesting statistic after 3 years of war in Iraq.

This statistic is not meant to degrade the loss of ANY soldier in Iraq. Each one is a tragedy - they are truly heroes to the country and I hope the Lord blesses each and everyone one of these brave soldiers who paid the ultimate price, as well as their families. This goes out to those who have paid the price of crippling injury during combat and terrorist strikes as well.

This statistic will expose those who continue to use American casualties in the Iraq War as a statistic to promote their “Grim Milestones” and their view that “Too many American soldiers have lost their lives in this war”.

In the year 2000, per a report by the CDC, the mortality in the US hit a record low rate of 876.3 deaths per population of 100,000 people for the year. In 1999, the mortality rate was 877 per 100,000 people. Of course, we all know, and grieve, what happened in 2001 when over 3000 Americans lost their lives in a matter of an hour.

At any given time from the beginning of the Iraq war back in 2003, we have had over 100,000 troops dedicated to Operation Iraqi Freedom. At the lowest, we had 110K, and in fact now are at 135-160K.

As of this date, March 19, 2006, exactly three years after the war in Iraq began - we have had about 2,323 US military fatalities from both hostile and non-hostile actions.

Using the LOWEST possible rate that was observed in the United States - in the year 2000, at a rate of 876.3 deaths per 100K population, that would come out to a mortality rate of 2629 per 100K population in three years (should that rate have been maintained).

You can clearly see that the rate of US soldiers lost in the Iraq war is MUCH lower than the lowest fatality rate observed in the US in the year 2000. The average fatality rate of OIF soldiers per year is about 774 soldiers per year.

This is a compliment to our military operations and the quality of medical care that our injured soldiers receive.

The left continues to argue about the “HEAVY” US casualties when the actual numbers show that the mortality rate per 100,000 is lower for our soldiers in Iraq, than it was here on US soil in the lowest mortality rate year we have ever had, in the year 2000.

They will argue that there have been so many injuries, many of them very severe. This is true, but in the average population, you also see a good number of people that are injured, many severely.

They will also argue that many of those fatalities in United States rate are elderly and infants dying of natural causes - where the majority of fatalities occur. The same holds true of the soldiers involved in Iraq. Some of the fatalities are “non-combat” including those that were on leave and killed in a accident, had heart attacks or other natural causes, etc.

Each and every one of our soldiers lost, IS a tragedy. When they became a soldier, they knew that there was a possibility that they would be required to go to war. THAT is their job - military, not a kindergarten playground where they get to play war and get an education on top of it. I’ll never forget the words of our soldier just prior to the war in Iraq. I had the opportunity to visit her late 2002, near the end of her AIT at Bragg. The buildup before the Iraq invasion was already beginning at that time.

Soldier: “Dad, given what has happened (9/11) there is a good possibility that I may be deployed to war”.

Dad: “How do you feel about this?”

Soldier: “It would be a shame if I wasn’t. All my training would have been for nothing.”

It is a dangerous job, just like that of our police, firefighters, and paramedics. Military operations are dangerous work, and these numbers reflect the capability and professionalism with which our soldiers do their job, and do it in a very dangerous and hostile environment.

Bless ‘Em All.

The Angry American

UPDATE at 3/21/06 6:21:26 pm:

Also see this post from Proud Kaffir:

On the third anniversary of the Iraq war, the MSM keeps bombarding us with stories and statistics trying to compare this war to the carnage in Vietnam, trying to make us think that US soldiers are dying at an alarming number due to Bush’s failures.

While every lost serviceman and servicewoman is certainly tragic and should be mourned, the actual statistics tell quite a different tale from the MSM and Democratic doom-and-gloom outlook. Comparing the numbers of lost US military personnel to past years, and past presidential terms, may even be a shock to supporters of the war.

Take a look at the actual US Military Casualty figures since 1980. If you do the math, you will find quite a few surprises. First of all, let’s compare numbers of US Military personnel that died during the first term of the last four presidents.

George W. Bush . . . . . 5187 (2001-2004)
Bill Clinton . . . . . . . . . 4302 (1993-1996)
George H.W. Bush . . . . 6223 (1989-1992)
Ronald Reagan . . . . . . 9163 (1981-1984)

Even during the (per MSM) utopic peacetime of Bill Clinton’s term, we lost 4302 service personnel. H.W. Bush and Reagan actually lost significantly more personnel while never fighting an extensive war, much less a simultaneous war in two theaters (Iraq and Afghanistan). Even the dovish Carter lost more people during his last year in office, in 1980 lost 2392, than W. has lost in any single year of his presidency. (2005 figures are not available but I would wager the numbers would be slightly higher than 2004.)

In 2004, more soldiers died outside of Iraq and Afghanistan than died inside these two war zones (900 in these zones, 987 outside these zones). The reason is that there are usually a fair number that die every year in training accidents, as well as a small number of illness and suicide. Yet the MSM would make you think that US soldiers are dying at a high number in these zones, and at a significantly higher number than in past years or under past presidents. This is all simply outright lies and distortion.
_________________
"Millions For Defense, Not One Cent For Tribute" - Thomas Jefferson on paying ransom to Muslim corsairs (pirates).

[homesteader]

Thanks FDL for the post and link. During my career I lost far more friends and squadron mates to accidents than to hostile action. Their sacrifices are also worthy of recognition. Every time I pass through Colorado Springs I stop at the AFA cemetery to honor my roommate. He never had a chance to get even close to any action.

These stats confound the libs and the uninformed who think young people (suckers) volunteer for the military only to get a job or an education. (One price of an all volunteer force.) There is as big a cultural gap between the military and the general population as there is between Wheaton College, BYU, Hillsdale College and the Service Academies and Harvard, Yale or Berkley. Different worlds. Sadly, the latter ignorantly and arrogantly bask in the freedoms assured by the values and principles preserved and protected by the former, all the while thinking it is their gallentry and sophestry that gives them the liberties they exploit.

[sixdogteam]

ALL these apples-to-oranges statistics lack logic. They are meaningless. Combat theatre related casualties stand alone.
_________________
HHC 212th CAB MMAF RVN '70-'71

[Deuce]