The Wounded Never Die

The government, believe it or not, is not telling us everything about the casualties of troops in Iraq. In fact they're making sure the press doesn't get wind of the truth either. The link below is an article by Harley Sorensen. You can believe it or not but keep in mind:

So far the press has shown an amazing lack of curiosity about the fate of Americans wounded in Iraq. The modern U.S. press seems to have adopted as its mantra: "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

www.commondreams.org.../views03/1103-06.htm

Yeah, it's pathetic and outrageous. They do exactly as the administration and corporate bosses tell them, verbatim.

There have been so many physically and mentally maimed soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, it's unreal. No, it's criminal, considering the administration had to lie through their teeth to get their way. (Anyone whose followed this from day one of the invasion knows this is true.) What pisses me off the most is how the Pentagon and media totally low-ball and skew the numbers.

If Americans actually saw nightly footage of the dead and wounded coming off the planes at Dover and elsewhere, they'd be shocked and horrified. It's TOTALLY out of sight, out of mind. It would mean the end of the Iraq quagmire and the end of George W's political career.

I am sure a few die but from experiance I can tell you that most wounded badly enough to die never make it to a mash unit and hardly ever make it futher than that

There are thousands of amputees and mentally FROCKED up soldiers that have come home so far. If I had gotten my legs blown off in Iraq, I would've wanted to die. I know that's weak, but I couldn't imagine being forced to live in a chair. I just feel for those guys and am thankful I came back in one peice and in sound mind.

interesting article, it does make you wonder what really happens to injured...

there are a few other threads, i recalled that talked about the govt misleading us with the total death totals. I think the official number dead is around 500 to 600, not sure of the exact number and if other forces casualties were counted in it. The wounded is about 3000 so far. How accurate those numbers are I don't know but it is very possible that we are being mislead about the totals...but I don't think it is by much...if it was, I am sure the families of the dead would try their best to make us aware of it.

The number of dead is over 600. And trust me, the Pentagon are experts at obfuscation. Sometimes it's a necessary evil. But in this case, it's called covering Bush's Azz.

There are thousands of amputees and mentally FROCKED up soldiers that have come home so far. If I had gotten my legs blown off in Iraq, I would've wanted to die. I know that's weak, but I couldn't imagine being forced to live in a chair. I just feel for those guys and am thankful I came back in one peice and in sound mind.

I know a buddy of mine in Nam lost both legs whats between them and one arm.

I like to remember that when I start whining about my scars

i remember reading historical accounts of germany during the first months of the invasion of russia and how the germany govt... totaly lied, mislead, skewed the reported dead and injured....that was untill enough injured troops got leave to go back to germany for a while..then the truth came out but....the population couldn't do anything about it then.......oh did i mention that i was talking about germany in WWII not the american invasion of iraq.......they almost sound like one-in-the-same.......hmmmmmmmm

There have been 666 coalition deaths, 566 Americans, 59 Britons, five Bulgarians,
one Dane, one Estonian, 17 Italians, two Poles, 10 Spaniards, two Thai and
three Ukrainian, in the war as of March 17, 2004. There have been 3,254 U.S. troops
wounded in the war, according to the Pentagon. The casualty lists do not reflect
the names of the soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors whose families
have yet to be notified by each country's government.

For a list of the casualties by age, gender, race and service branch ::

FOX
www.foxnews.com...
CNN
www.arab2.com...

Best estimates (western sources) for civilians::

www.comw.org...

To put this in perspective::

www.fas.org...

For those who would impune our heros, all I can say
(after biting my tongue) is that you have a right
to remain Ignorant and I have a right to hold that against you.

/\/ight\/\/ing

Hmmm. Amuk, thanks for bringing Nam up. It got me thinking, and I'm starting to see a lot of parallels...

1. In both cases, the US was in a place that it should not have been. (debatable, but... hey. History will show the facts better than we will.) At least in both cases America intervened on behalf of its allies to halt a tyrant.

2. In both cases, American forces fight on unfamiliar ground with supposedly superior equipment.

3. In both cases, the public sentiment towards the war varied quickly, ranging from full support, indifference, and finally outrage.

4. In both cases, casualty reports were deliberately muddled (though this remains to be proven).

5. In both cases, American forces were pitted against an enemy charged with religious fervor, armed with basic if effective weapons, in unfamilliar terrain and on their enemy's home ground.

6. In both cases, the tactics used were basically the same.



Is anyone worried yet?

DE

"Yeah, it's pathetic and outrageous. They do exactly as the administration and corporate bosses tell them, verbatim."

sorry? there are a few anti-war newspapers here in england that seem to do nothing but moan about the war, moan about the casualities and moan about our government. I wouldnt say theyre doing exactly what our government wants them to do, would you!?

Originally posted by mrmulder
The government, believe it or not, is not telling us everything about the casualties of troops in Iraq. So far the press has shown an amazing lack of curiosity about the fate of Americans wounded in Iraq. The modern U.S. press seems to have adopted as its mantra: "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
www.commondreams.org.../views03/1103-06.htm

Well MSNBC has a story today called
"Wounded in the Line Of Duty" , it an Audio Slide show or I would provide the link.
On front page of msnbc.com right hand side, top

Did any of you ever consider the possibility that the press is respecting the right of those injured to not have it made into broadcast news?

Would you want to be put on TV/in the papers after you had a limb removed? Would you want to talk about it?
I wouldn't, I would rather focus on trying to start rehab and working things out with family members. If someone from the press showed up I would not want to speak to them about such a personal topic.

I understand privacy for the injured but Bush not allowing us to see the dead coming home is wrong. Those coffins represent the the cost of our actions, we have to be willing to accept those cost if we are to continue in this war. The wounded need to be given a voice, instead of being hidden.

And while we are on the topic how big does GWB think his balls are that he has not attended one single funeral since this war began??? I mean give me a break he is the freaking commander in chief and he needs to show some freakin compassion!!!

He is hiding behind his staff pretending it is not happening. If he can acknowledge the sacrifice our troops are making and then justify it against the results he would probably move up a notch with me. I cannot imagine having lost a son or daughter in a war where the president has policies in place to "hide" their sacrifice from the world. yes flag drapped coffins and wounded troops are hard to see on TV, guess what. We are responsible for them though and need to step up, pay our respects and decide if it is worth it. The "discomfort" any of us may feel by seeing this is NOTHING compared to what their families go though, we owe it to them.

[Edited on 3/18/2004 by nativeokie]

Originally posted by nativeokie
I understand privacy for the injured but Bush not allowing us to see the dead coming home is wrong. Those coffins represent the the cost of our actions, we have to be willing to accept those cost if we are to continue in this war. The wounded need to be given a voice, instead of being hidden.

You can see the cost of the war in other ways. Every day there is a listing of those killed in most papers. Various web based news sources keep a constant tally going. Why do we need to see the coffins come off the plane? IMO that is a personal moment for that members family and should not be exploited.


And while we are on the topic how big does GWB think his balls are that he has not attended one single funeral since this war began???

When was the last time that a President had to attend a funeral for a service member? Did Clinton ever attend one?

The "discomfort" any of us may feel by seeing this is NOTHING compared to what their families go though, we owe it to them.

No, we owe it to them to respect their privacy and not to turn the death of a loved one into something that is exploitable.

You know I am going to respectfully disagree. I am from a military family and form many of my opinions based upon my father, who served until retirement including Vietnam and he said the vision of those bodies returning was what helped the public to outcry against the war and pull our troops home.
He told me recently that if the war had been justified the vision would have had the opposite effect, it would have rallied the country against those killing our troops.

As for Clinton? He was not listing himself as a war president as Bush has. Therefore as a war president he gets it all and should be humbled by every person that dies on his watch.