There's Still Time to Up the Casualty Count
It's just a small war by historical standards. A drop in the world's bucket of blood compared to some of America's other wars, but there's still plenty of time.
The Associated Press reported this week that "the Army has plans to keep the current level of soldiers in Iraq through 2010." While Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker attributed this to Army preparedness and not a prediction of how the war effort is going, it's clear that a significant troop withdrawal won't be happening in the near future. This puts a new perspective on last week's reports that troop tours are being extended again. But don't worry, our men and women in Iraq will probably be home by next spring or summer because the military has just lowered it's requirements for signing up. Good thing too. You have to be some kind of stupid to volunteer to go to Iraq to get blown up.
But I digress. The point is, we still have plenty of time to reach respectable casualty numbers to prevent Iraq from becoming just a minor blip in the history books. And we're well on our way. This week the Associated Press reported on a study published in the respected medical journal The Lancet that estimates the Iraqi death toll at nearly 655,000 since the start of the 3-year conflict. The estimate was derived by researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad from a door-to-door survey doctors conducted of 1,849 households in Iraq and extrapolated to a nationwide figure. Of course, the survey only estimates Iraqi deaths through July with the actual range being between 392,979 and 942,636 dead. This doesn't include the 2,756 U.S. military who have died, allied troop deaths or non-Iraqi civilian casualties (including journalists, construction workers, aid workers).
So the good news is we've already surpassed the half million soldiers and civilians who died during the Civil War, but we've still got a long way to go to catch up to the 2 to 4 million who died during the Korean War or the 7 million who died in the Vietnam War (figures are approximate, ref. www.Wikipedia.com). And we'll probably never reach the numbers achieved during WWI (15 million deaths) or that pinnacle of human tragedy, WWII with its grotesque death toll of 62 million soldiers and civilians. Unless, of course, Iran picks up the pace on its nuclear weapons program or some mad terrorist with a Napoleon complex gets hold of some weapons grade plutonium from one of Russia's well-protected nuclear graveyards.
President Bush must be pleased with the independent study's death estimates. After all, his team has only been reporting death tolls of 30,000 to 50,000, not nearly enough to designate this the historic battle against evil that Bush needs to make his mark in history. And, like I said, there's still plenty of time. Why with the cooperation of the American military, Iraqi policemen and the terrorists, I'll bet we can break 1 million by the end of the year. Who said the Iraqis aren't doing their part?
The Associated Press reported this week that "the Army has plans to keep the current level of soldiers in Iraq through 2010." While Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker attributed this to Army preparedness and not a prediction of how the war effort is going, it's clear that a significant troop withdrawal won't be happening in the near future. This puts a new perspective on last week's reports that troop tours are being extended again. But don't worry, our men and women in Iraq will probably be home by next spring or summer because the military has just lowered it's requirements for signing up. Good thing too. You have to be some kind of stupid to volunteer to go to Iraq to get blown up.
But I digress. The point is, we still have plenty of time to reach respectable casualty numbers to prevent Iraq from becoming just a minor blip in the history books. And we're well on our way. This week the Associated Press reported on a study published in the respected medical journal The Lancet that estimates the Iraqi death toll at nearly 655,000 since the start of the 3-year conflict. The estimate was derived by researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad from a door-to-door survey doctors conducted of 1,849 households in Iraq and extrapolated to a nationwide figure. Of course, the survey only estimates Iraqi deaths through July with the actual range being between 392,979 and 942,636 dead. This doesn't include the 2,756 U.S. military who have died, allied troop deaths or non-Iraqi civilian casualties (including journalists, construction workers, aid workers).
So the good news is we've already surpassed the half million soldiers and civilians who died during the Civil War, but we've still got a long way to go to catch up to the 2 to 4 million who died during the Korean War or the 7 million who died in the Vietnam War (figures are approximate, ref. www.Wikipedia.com). And we'll probably never reach the numbers achieved during WWI (15 million deaths) or that pinnacle of human tragedy, WWII with its grotesque death toll of 62 million soldiers and civilians. Unless, of course, Iran picks up the pace on its nuclear weapons program or some mad terrorist with a Napoleon complex gets hold of some weapons grade plutonium from one of Russia's well-protected nuclear graveyards.
President Bush must be pleased with the independent study's death estimates. After all, his team has only been reporting death tolls of 30,000 to 50,000, not nearly enough to designate this the historic battle against evil that Bush needs to make his mark in history. And, like I said, there's still plenty of time. Why with the cooperation of the American military, Iraqi policemen and the terrorists, I'll bet we can break 1 million by the end of the year. Who said the Iraqis aren't doing their part?
