« Virgin olive oil blocks cancer cells in lab | Main | Suspected cell Al Qaeda leader killed in air raid »
October 27, 2005
Some Perspectives On Casualties In Iraq
Topics: IraqHere are some facts to provide a little perspective on US casualties in Iraq (via INDC):
Of course, there is a clear moral difference between "ordinary" deaths and military deaths in war. So let us draw a comparison to the statistics on American military fatalities in modern wars. According to a site that tracks such information, the fatalities rates, including killed-in-action and non-battle deaths, were:You do want to read the rest of the "Quick Links" ...
For World War I, over 6,100 per month.
For World War II, over 9,200 per month.
In Korea, over 900 were killed each month (non-battle death information is not available).For Vietnam, over 600 per month.
For Gulf War I, almost 300 in one month.The first Gulf War was noted for its remarkably low casualties. Some even observed that the death rate for the deployed American military personnel was lower then than that during peacetime, making it "safer to be at war than at home" for the soldiers. In comparison, an average of 53 died each month in this war.
Today the news-hungry media reports each death in an agonizing, repetitive fashion. One learns of a death in the morning newspapers, hears about it on radio on the way to work, sees it on CNN during lunch time, and the cycle repeats itself for few more hours in the evening, capped by a special on Nightline. The effect is that the impact of each death is sensationally and numbingly magnified without any reference to the contexts, such as toppling a murderous dictatorship, defeating a sponsor of terrorism and bringing freedom to an oppressed people.
(Note: the excerpted statistical death rate for the current conflict is as of 2004. The relative context is still relevant.)
Although a single death in the War on Terror is more than we'd like to see, America didn't start this war, radical Islam did. And if our men and women in the military, and those in government service to our country - can't stop the Islamists and beat them into absolute insignificance, our civilization is doomed.
Two thousand deaths is 2000 too many, but that number pales in comparison to what it would be without our military and diplomatic efforts to break the back of the Islamic agenda for the West.
We need no better reminder of what Islamofascism has in store for the world, then the speech given today by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a Tehran conference.
Western Civilization, the Iranian leader said, "turned the Zionist regime occupying Jerusalem into a staging-ground to dominate the Islamic world. ...They have created a base, from where they can expand their rule over the entire Islamic world; it has no other purpose other than this."Two thousand deaths, far too many. But America's finest have sacrificed far more in the past in a much shorter period of time. We are certain to loose many more - but how do we put a price on the freedom and culture of the entire Western civilization? Radical Islam must be defeated, and unfortunately, the war against Islamofascism and it's facilitators, as well as the number of lives lost, is only begining. Our real problem is that there are too many on the Left, that don't yet realize it.The goal of a world without the United States or Zionism, Ahmadinejad said, is "attainable and could definitely be realized. ...Our dear Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] ordered that the occupying regime in Jerusalem be wiped off the face of the earth. This was a very wise statement."
Compromise over the elimination of Israel, the Iranian president said, is tantamount to the defeat of the Islamic world, as "the central and command base of the enemy... is the occupying regime in Jerusalem."
Posted by Richard at October 27, 2005 2:18 AM
thank you for your perspective. I have a son who turned 19 in Sept. and leaves for deployment on Nov 28th. When people say such things as "we don't need to be over there" to him, I always say it's soldiers such as him willing to go to protect our right to say what we want.
Posted by: DHT at November 19, 2005 10:45 PM
Articles Related to Iraq:
- Some Perspectives On Casualties In Iraq - Oct 27, 2005
