US Military Casualties Exceed 70,658
Compiled by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com
US military occupation forces in Iraq suffered 29 combat casualties in the week ending Jan. 13, 2009 as the official total rose to at least 70,658. The total includes 34,365 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 36,293 dead and medically evacuated (as of Jan 3, 2009) from "non-hostile" causes.*
The actual total is over 90,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 20,000 veterans whose injuries-mainly brain trauma from explosions--were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq..**
US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by occasionally reporting only the total killed (4,227 as of Jan 13, 2009) but rarely mentioning the 30,961 wounded in combat. To further minimize public perception of the cost, they cover for the Pentagon by ignoring the 35,470 (as of Jan 3, 2009)*** military victims of accidents and illness serious enough to require medical air evacuation, although the 4,227 reported deaths include 823 (up two) who died from those same causes, including at least 18 from faulty electrical work by KBR and 145 suicides (suicides last updated March 1, 2009).
* The number of wounded is updated weekly (usually Tuesdays) by the Pentagon.
** see USA Today, Nov. 23, 2007 - no link; hard copy only
*** the number of "non combat" injured was reported by the Pentagon.
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Illinois county starts new court for veterans
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - With combat duty in Vietnam under his belt, Madison County Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr. knows veterans often have special issues when it comes to drugs and mental illness. Soon, many of them may be getting his special judicial help.
Taking a page from a similar program launched a year ago in New York, court administrators in this suburban St. Louis county plan to launch within weeks a new court designed to deal only with military veterans charged with nonviolent crimes.
The mission: Divert many of the veterans from the criminal courts to a program that, much like popular drug courts, will offer them treatment for underlying issues, perhaps sparing them a criminal conviction if they successfully complete the treatment.
"There are a lot of services out there; one thing the court will be able to do is get them connected" with veterans, ideally keeping them from becoming repeat offenders, Ann Callis, the county's chief judge, said Monday.
Read Rest Here: http://www.wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1572165
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Deja-Vu All Over, Shades of 'Nam, Again.....
U.S. Troops Uneasy as Rules Shift in Iraq
Americans Must Coordinate With Sometimes Unreliable Local Counterparts
BAGHDAD -- First Lt. Ilya Ivanov's initial mission of 2009 began with a crucial, if irksome, task: rousing an Iraqi army sergeant out of bed.
After trekking through dark, trash-filled streets in Sadr City, as the crackle of gunfire and the wails of stray dogs echoed in the distance, the 24-year-old infantry platoon leader arrived at the Iraqi army station one hour before midnight on New Year's Eve. The Iraqi soldier was sleeping placidly on an uneven, thin mattress, a layer of freshly applied moisturizing lotion on his face.
"Tell him we would be honored if he joined us in this mission," Ivanov asked his interpreter to relay.
Tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq started the year calibrating their missions to conform with a new security agreement that demands that American combat troops depend more heavily than ever on their often-bungling Iraqi counterparts. Sometimes that means dragging one or two along on patrol.
Rest Here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011102565.html
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there are a lot of munbers that I have NOT seen before as wounded and killed, it seems as if DOD and the VA are excellent at disguising the numbers from the American public, and what is NOT counted here is the suicides and the non battle injuries caused by combat training and deaths caused by extraneous means off the battlefield.
Many of these deaths are war related regardless of how the military chooses to list them, as in the case of Major Kevin Wilkins US Air Force reserve who died as a result of a brain tumor related to toxic exposures from a toxic mess at the burn pit at balad AFB Iraq while he was stationed there as a medecan nurse who flew from Balad to Rhamstein Germany, he died within a year of his deployment Balad, his death is a combay related death, and since he died in a civilian hospital in Florida from cancer less than 10 days after diagnosis, his name will never adorn a wall naming him of the the wars dead, why? The war killed him just as if a snipers bullet did it. His family is greiving his passage as any other fallen soldiers family is mourning their loss, and deservingly so. I SALUTE the Major Wilkins of this war as well as the SFC Smith the Medal of Honor awardee during the battle of Baghdad Airport in March 2003. They both died hero's in my eyes, what is the difference, they both died inn service to this nation. Doing what they were paid to do, their jobs. I respect and admire them all, my regret is that I was not able to be there.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
US Military Casualties Exceed 70,658
