Some interesting math on the number of troops killed in Iraq.

[FloridaPat]

Someone on these boards said that the real death toll in Iraq is 2800. There is finally an article that one can use to do a little calculating.

It has been figured that around 14,000 troops have been wounded in Iraq so far. The article says that 1 in six wounded die, which is a big improvement over previous wars. That means that 2240 may have died after being taken to the hospital. Add the 500+ verified by the government and there is the 2,800. There is still the unanswered question of what mass graves of US soldiers that one journalist was doing a story on before he was killed. Rumor has it only American citizens are being counted. The non-citizens are being hidden.

Here is the article where I got my math.


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/opinion_04a18dbd454ca0b51081.html

[rockymountaindem]

1. You made the wrong deduction.

While I wouldn't be surprised at some kind of coverup, the article says that there are six soldiers wounded for every one killed. The reason that is higher than in previous wars is because advanced medical care saves the lives of more injured soldiers. The information provided in the article means that for every seven soldiers wounded, only one dies. In the past (such as the info. provided in the civil war), 1 shot soldier in three died. The info doesn't indicate an under-reporting of soldiers who died in hospital, but it is suspicious that the Dep. of Defense doesn't have information about their own army to give to the Senate.

On edit:
During the US quashing of the rebellion in the Phillippenes in 1900-02, the ratio of Phillipino guerillas wounded to killed guerillas was 1:15 (as opposed to 6:1 in Iraq today), I.E. that for every wounded Phillipino wounded, 15 were killed. This marks perhaps the only incidence in modern war where more combattants were killed than were wounded. This was because the US soldiers roamed the battlefields killing any wounded enemies lying on the battlefield. Under normal circumstances, these wounded would have been given aid. During this war, our Army just killed the wounded instead.

[TheDebbieDee]

2. I've always suspected that this is the real reason for the ban..........

of journalists and photographers at Dover AFB in Maryland. This administration doesn't want us, the public, to know how many soldiers are really getting killed over there.

That's also the reason that the press is banned from attending the funerals of returning soldiers or contacting their families.

[alcuno]

3. No. They are being counted.

I have seen the details on various sites. One US soldier died recently after being hospitalized in England. It is to the credit of the medical personnel that so many of those seriously wounded have survived.

Families would notice if their dead family member was not listed on the DoD website and we would hear about it.