POLITICS - Military Losses for 20 years.

[Jarhead]

Bet you didn't know the following! I surely did not..
Military losses for 20 years



These are some rather eye-opening facts: Since the start of the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan , the sacrifice has been enormous. In the time period from the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 through now, we have lost over 3000 military personnel to enemy action and accidents. 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

1981 ........ 2,380

1984 .......... 1,999

1988 .......... 1,819

1989 .......... 1,636

1990 ........ 1,508

1991 .......... 1,787

1992 .......... 1,293----------------------------------------------------

1993 .......... 1,213

1994 .......... 1,075

1995 ...........2,465

1996 ......... 2,318 Clinton years @13,417 deaths

1997 ........ 817

1998 ........ 2,252

1999 .......... 1,984 -------------------------------------------------

2000 .......... 1,983

2001 ........ 890

2002 .......... 1,007 7 BUSH years @ 9,016 deaths

2003 .......... 1,410

2004 .......... 1,887

2005 ......... 919

2006........ 920 ------------------------ ------------------------------------

2007 ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

If you are confused when you look at these figures...so was I.



Do these figures mean that the loss from the two latest conflicts in the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during Mr. Clinton's presidency; when America wasn't even involved in a war? And, I was even more confused; when I read that in 1980, during the reign of President (Nobel Peace Prize) Jimmy Carter, there were 2,392 US military fatalities!

These figures indicate that many of our Media & Politicians will pick and choose. They present only those "facts" which support their agenda-driven reporting. 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?

Our Mainstream Print and TV media, and many Politicians like to slant; that these brave men and women, who are losing their lives in Iraq , are mostly minorities! Wrong AGAIN--- just one more media lie! The latest census, of Americans, shows the following distribution of American citizens, by Race:

European descent (White) ....... 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 .................................... . 33%

You do the Math! These figures don't lie... but, Media-liars figure...and they sway public opinion! (These statistics are published by Congressional Research Service, and they may be confirmed by anyone at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf )



Now ask yourself these two questions:

"Why does the mainstream Print and TV Media never print statistics like these?" and "Why do the mainstream media hate the web as much as they do?

[kirkwood]

I went to the NAS link and the annual deaths listed in Table 4 of the report (and repeated in Table 5) don't match the numbers in your post.

[Modoc ED]

People are simply amazed at the peace-time, non-combatant deaths that occur in the military every year.

When I was in the Navy, I rode a lot of ships -- mostly Bird Farms (Aircraft Carriers) but a couple of Small Boys (Destroyers) too. I was never on a ship that didn't lose at least one sailor on a cruise (Mediterranean (Sp?) or Pacific). On one cruise on the USS Ranger (CV 61) we lost 12 sailors on a WESTPAC (Western Pacific) Cruise. A plane crash claimed 6-lives in one event and the others were the result of two guys going overboard, one guy sucked into the engine of an A7 Jet, falls down ladders, etc.. Now that might not see like a lot but consider that there is a 500-ship Navy and that the average loss per ship per year is 2 sailors and that comes to 1000 sailors. That doesn't count shore duty accidents and other training accidents that result in death.

Of course in the military, combat is considered the most dangerous or at risk activity but when you think about it, the various service members must train for combat and during a lot of those training senarios, service members are killed.

Of course we don't want to leave out or firefighters and police/law enforcement officers and others who serve.

Funny how some people go through life with an apparent aloofness (SP)about those that serve them.

[Old Ironsights]

I was never on a Brigade Level exercise where some dumb grunt didn't get himself killed from somthing or another.

If it wasn't sleeping under a Track, it was rolling his 151.

In the military, Darwin Rules. Stupidity is regularly Fatal.

[JReed]

The biggest killer of Marines is off duty incidents. We are allways pushing safety on our younger troops. Alcohol is one of the biggest factors followed by driving with not enough sleep and speeding in POV's ( Privately Owned Vehicles).

Marines tend to not do all the stupid stuff when they have bullets whizzing by their heads.

[bunklocoempire]

Jarhead wrote:

"Why does the mainstream Print and TV Media never print statistics like these?" and "Why do the mainstream media hate the web as much as they do?

#1 I believe the msm used to report on statistics, but these days it seems to me they're more about "talkin' loud and saying nothing". The msm has admitted they tailor their "news" to demographics and what gets 'em the most viewers/readers, profits.With this comes the "30 second sound bite" and true reporting seems more and more rare in these mediums. Profit wise it makes sense, crank out the soundbites and fluff pieces, quantity not quality. Many of the politicians obviously operate this same way.The lack of these types of statistics and more importantly the reporting of "why" truly disgusts me.

#2 They hate the web because the web is taking their readers/viewers. They are working on that though with their own websites spewing the same shallow "news". The msm isn't alone in their hate/fear of the web, government (politicians) hate it as well, for the taxes they miss from it (commerce) and the ideas it spreads, (RKBA for example). Money and control.

Be aware of the "Net Neutrality Act". Like the "Patriot Act" any bills/laws so named generally have the opposite effects.

"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson also struggled with this stuff in his time. Weather it's barring the press or selective "reporting" it all is detrimental to our Liberty and should be taken very seriously. Take news from as many sources as you can, allways follow the money and read between the lines.

A link for our casualties. http://icasualties.org/oif/default.aspx Bookmark this and keep 'em in your prayers daily.

Bunkloco

[Leverdude]

I saw it somewhers else. Recently.
Not sure of its relevence. Thats likely not a real high number of peacetime deaths if you compare it to other similarly sized industries.

Most of the opposition to the war isn't about number of American deaths. It stands to reason that as technology improves we can wage war with less human casualties.
The biggest issue I find talking to folks is the cost in dollars & cents with no end in sight & no net return on our investment. Unless you work for Halitburten & corp. Its near impossible to rationalize whats going on now.

The media are just showmen selling a product. More people watch if they do sensationalistic news. Thats obvious. I think most people likely see them for what they are. & watch for entertainment or maybe to screen for things worth looking up on the net.

[Hobie]

Should be 8,793 in the "Clinton years" and 8,792 2000-2006. This despite the war...

POV accidents, mostly alcohol related, were the big killer every where I was. My mother's next door neighbor's son was killed, death by misadventure, he was drinking (a lot) and climbed out on a third story balcony and fell. However, we had deaths in combat training such as in one MOUT incident where the first guy in the stack went right instead of left and was only seen in the muzzle flash of the second guy's gun. Too late. Stuff happens.

[Jeeps]

I can remember going to Norway for the first time in the fall of '88 on the
USS Nassau. We lost a young gent in the north Atlantic. When I say "lost" I
mean he was never found. Shook me up a bit cuz I could remember how
much fun I had in '87 standing at the back of one of the flat bottom "alligator"
ships while throwing trash out the back and watching the ocean go from being
five feet below us to thirty plus feet below us on our way to Korea.

Like Jeremy says, Jarheads without bullets flying at them are like college kids
without a college around. They don't need to look for trouble, they ARE trouble.

I can remember being hauled in front of 1st Sgt. one too many times and that's
when I went out and bought a guitar and learned how to play.

When I was in 12th Marines, we had a "troop adjustment tool" that was a double
open ended wrench that weighed around 50 lbs. I can remember having to
be seen with it at all times for two weeks straight, and the mess hall was about
a quarter mile away

Those were the days.....