Monday, March 24, 2008

Four Thousand Is Just a Number

Yesterday, the big media counted 4,000 deaths (presumably including deaths by disease, accident, suicide, and other causes besides combat casualties). We mourn them all, especially those who laid down their lives in the line of duty. To put things in perspective, we provide the following information:

Military losses, 1980 through 2006
Source: Congressional Research Service,
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf
As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider the following statistics: The annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2006:

1980 .......... 2,392 (Carter Year)
1981 ......... 2,380 (Reagan Year)
1982..........2,319 (Reagan Year)
1983..........2,465 (Reagan Year)
1984 ......... 1,999 (Reagan Year)
1985...........2,252 (Reagan Year)
1986...........1,984 (Reagan Year)
1987...........1,983 (Reagan Year)
1988 ......... 1,819 (Reagan Year)
1989 ......... 1,636 (George HW Year)
1990 ......... 1,508 (George HW Year)
1991 ......... 1,787 (George HW Year)
1992 ......... 1,293 (George HW Year)
1993 ......... 1,213 ( Clinton Year)
1994 ......... 1,075 ( Clinton Year)
1995 ......... 2,465 ( Clinton Year)
1996 ......... 2,318 (Clinton Year)
1997 ........... 817 ( Clinton Year)
1998 ........ 2,252 ( Clinton Year)
1999 .........1,984 ( Clinton Year)
2000 ........1,983 ( Clinton Year)
Clinton years (1993-2000): 14,000 deaths
2001 .......... 890 (George W Year)
2002 ........1,007 (George W Year)
2003 ....... 1,410 (George W Year)
2004 ....... 1,887 (George W Year)
2005 .......... 919 (George W Year)
2006........... 920 (George W Year)
George W years (2001-2006): 7,932 deaths
2007............899 (George W Year)
If you are surprised when you look at these figures, so was I.

These figures mean that the loss from the two latest conflicts in the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during Bill Clinton's presidency; when America wasn't even involved in a war!

And, I was even more shocked when I read that in 1980, during the reign of President (Nobel Peace Prize winner) Jimmy Carter, there were 2,392 US military fatalities!I think that these figures indicate that many members of our Media and our Politicians will pick and choose the information on which they report. Of course we all know that they present only those 'facts' which support their agenda-driven reporting. But why do so many of them march in lock-step to twist the truth? Where do so many of them get their marching-orders for their agenda? Obviously there is one shared agenda, and I believe it is clear it comes from the most powerful Democratic family of the decade.

Do you want further proof? Consider the latest census, of Americans. It shows the following FACTS about the distribution of American citizens, by Race:
European descent ............. 69.12%
Hispanic .................................. 12.5%
Black .......................................... 12.3%
Asian ........................................... 3.7%
Native American ................... ..... 1.0%
Other ........................................... 2.6%
Now... here are the fatalities by Race; over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom:

European descent (white).........74.31%
Hispanic .................................. 10.74%
Black ........................................ 9.67%
Asian ........................................ 1.81%
Native American ........................1.09%
Other ........................................ 0.33%

1 comment:

Luba said...

As Mark Twain said, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. About.com debunks your numbers:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_military_deaths.htm

The claim that there were more U.S. military fatalities during the Bill Clinton administration than there have been to date under George W. Bush is false. Moreover, that erroneous conclusion was based on falsified statistics. Look at the link you provide for the congressional data, and then look at the numbers you have posted--the numbers have been changed and grossly inflated.

Using the actual figures from the Congressional Research Service report

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf

the total military deaths under each of the two administrations are as follows:

Bill Clinton (1993 - 2000) ............. 7,500 deaths

George W. Bush (2001 - 2006) .... 8,792 deaths

Moreover, of the 7,500 fatalities that occurred on Clinton's watch (8 years), only 76 were attributable to hostile action; the rest were the result of accidents, homicide, illness, self-inflicted injuries, or unknown causes.

Bush's numbers are for only 6 years. Prior to Iraq, the death rate was about 800 per year. If you throw in the 800 a year additional from Iraq, and perhaps a hundred more from Afghanistan, we get a number more like 12,000+. Still, that's chump change compared to all the Iraqi civilians who've died, but no one bothers to count them.