Let's not forget the injuries. Here's 1 thing we should frame differently

[mtnsnake]

All too often, people in this country aren't made aware of the large number of terrible injuries to our soldiers (Heck, they're not even aware of the obscene numbers of deaths to Iraqi civilians).

So, when it comes to discussing the atrocities of the Iraq War as it relates to our own soldiers, instead of only stressing how many of our soldiers have been killed, we need to include how many have been injured. Sometimes we forget just how many horrific injuries, including many amputations, that our soldiers have suffered. I'm not sure of the latest numbers, sorry I've lost track, but it's something like 12,000 injuries plus, I believe.

Normally we only hear things like, "There have been over 1,500 American soldiers killed in the war."

Instead, we should re-phrase it: "There have been over 13,000 American soldiers killed or injured in this unjust war."

If you wanted to take it one step further, you could add to this the enormous number of soldiers who've been flown out of Iraq, some permanently, because they were suffering from mental stress (something like 10x the number of those who have been injured, according to an article I remember reading quite a while back) and it really hits home.

Then the rhetoric becomes something like this: "So far there have been over 13,000 American soldiers killed or injured...and over 100,000 American soldiers reported to have suffered mental disorders from the war."

At the very least, the numbers of physical injuries should always be included when we're talking numbers of deaths. The "over 13,000" number is liable to hit home more than the "over 1,500" number.

[noamnety]

1. I agree

We should be discussing the "casualty" rate, which includes, by definition, military losses through "death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action."

[mtnsnake]

3. Yes, "casualty rate" is a better way of putting it.

Thanks for offering that suggestion.

[ClassWarrior]

2. Excellent point.

NGU.

[wtmusic]

4. And direct them here:

Warning--GRAPHIC

http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/wounded/gallery.htm

[mtnsnake]

5. Yes, these are the unimaginable realities, despite what Bushco would

like everyone to believe.

Thank you for the "graphic" warning.

What a mess we're in.

[Amonester]

6. Actions to prevent many more.

http://www.notinourname.net/courage.htm

[wtmusic]

7. great site--thanks for the link n/t

[Sapphire Blue]

8. Yes, let's not forget...

An excerpt from The Unknown Soldiers

By Lakshmi Chaudhry, AlterNet. Posted October 21, 2004.


The reality of the suffering in Iraq has been rendered invisible by media hype and partisan battle. One doctor, who has treated some of the thousands, speaks about the war wounded.


Gene Bolles has seen more than his fair share of human suffering. Two years in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center – the U.S. military hospital in Germany that receives all injured soldiers evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan – is no doctor's dream job, especially not if you are a neurosurgeon who specializes in brain and spinal injuries – the kind that can destroy a 19-year-old kid's life. Yet as he speaks of the shattered soldiers who were once his charge, Bolles is neither overwrought nor angry.

The soft-spoken 62-year-old civilian speaks not of politics but of humanity – the terrible toll imposed by all wars, unjust or otherwise, on all involved, soldier or civilian. He speaks not of blame but of compassion and duty – our duty as a nation to pay attention and tend to the young men and women we ask to sacrifice life or limb in battle. At a time when the reality of the suffering in Iraq has been rendered invisible by media hype and partisan battle, Gene Bolles remains a steadfast advocate for the scarred, the maimed, and the tormented – whose numbers are far, far greater than what the Bush administration would like to admit.

Continued @ http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/20254/

[mtnsnake]

9. Wow, what an article. That is a MUST read about the side we never

hear about, and it comes from someone who has a 1st-hand account of the injuries and suffering. Thanks for providing that link.

Here's another snip:

"I really don't know why it's not out there for all of us to see. The question is why isn't our news media reporting this night after night so the American people can know about it. If you know about it, then why isn't CNN or NBC pushing this stuff?

What you see on TV and what you see in reality, is like night and day. The embedding of the journalists seemed to sterilize the war. When I heard them report, it was like it was a football game. The true effects of war are just awful. I'm now hearing estimates of upward of 30,000 in terms of civilian deaths. Let alone, all the Iraqis who have been injured."

Once again, the link to the entire article: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/20254/