Apples to Apples
March 26th, 2008 |The Gateway Pundit posts the following chart with this comment:
The US military lost more soldiers in the first 5 years of the Clinton Presidency than the US military lost in the first 5 years in Iraq.
The point being made is that the War in Iraq, and the overall effect on the US military, is no more deadly that your average Democratic presidential administration.
I am going to have to go ahead and call “bullshit” on that one.
Let’s look at a real comparison:
The numbers above were taken from the same Congressional Research Service report quoted by Gateway Pundit. The only exception was for the years 2007 and 2008 since they were not included on the report. I included the Iraq War US military fatalities from the Iraq and Afghanistan Casualty Counts and then made an estimate for non-Iraq War deaths for 2007 based upon the average non-combat deaths for the 6 years of the Bush administration included in the CRS report.
The red column represents US military deaths under the Bush administration as of yesterday. The orange column represents estimated US military deaths by the end of the Bush administration.
It’s clear that the Iraq War, and it’s real effect on our military, is not as innocuous as some would have you believe. Gateway Pundit’s goal is to minimize the sacrifice that our troops have made over the past 5 years in order to make the War in Iraq look less like the catastrophe that it truly is.
Keep in mind that the chart above does not include the 29,000 members of the military that have been wounded in Iraq. This chart does not detail the damage that has been done to the military in terms of retention and recruitment. It does not detail the enormous expense of this conflict. It does not show that the War in Iraq has actually made the world a much more dangerous place and put our country at further risk.
Don’t kid yourself, this war is a very big deal and most people in this country do not yet understand the sacrifice in blood, treasure and security that has been and continues to be made. We are going to be living with the effects of this conflict for years to come.
There is no end in sight and John McCain just wants more of the same.
9 Responses to “Apples to Apples”
Personally, trying to argue with statistics quoted by GP is futile — you will never win. Plus, you’re feeding into his/her trap of arguing meaningless information which takes away from the real argument of just how badly run the cause (Iraq war, in this case) is, how bad it is hurting the US economy, the lack of exit strategy, etc.
What do you mean I will never win? I already won. Kicked ass, if I do say so myself.
It all too easy for the POTUS to ‘expect’ sacrifice from the Iraq population in the name of his Freedom Crusade. Check out the Iraq Body Count website for details of this sacrifice: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/about/
kill all the pundits,media types,politicians,political bloggers, and who’s left…one or two people maybe. in a vast political wasteland all are suspect even you, and you and you…
What do you mean I will never win? I already won.
At the risk of generalizing groups of people, OK, I will…. I’ve found that people who quote/fight/argue some obscure (and usually contrived) facts aren’t swayed by (your) contrary facts; your contrary facts are merely opinions in their minds….
The very fact that you counter an argument is an affront to their belief system. What’s the consequence of that action? The next time some opportunity arises to mis-report facts it will be met head-on and even more outrageous statements will be made. Vicious cycle….
You may win the battle but the winning the war is futile….
You may win the battle but the winning the war is futile…
Only if you care about the outcome.
The battle itself is the entertaining part.
Only if you care about the outcome.
The battle itself is the entertaining part.
that’s what i’m talking about…spoken like a true warrior
i’m moving to Canada…..
smithers, you wanta send redbeard a going away present?