Hidden Iraq casualties and Pentagon lies

The U.S. imperialists and their media mouthpieces are using a new tactic to make the Iraq occupation more palatable.

Citing advanced battlefield medicine, the imperialists claim this war is safer for soldiers because so few have been

killed, as compared to other major U.S. wars. The number of U.S. soldier deaths is constantly addressed and updated in the mainstream press. The total number of casualties, however, is rarely revealed, and for good reason. 

Nearly 4,000 American soldiers have died in the Iraq war, but nearly 29,000 more have been wounded during hostilities, according to U.S. Department of Defense figures. Including “non-hostile” wounds—and only the ones that require helicopter evacuation—the number goes up to almost 39,000.

Incorporating soldiers categorized as “Diseased/Other Medical” (also only including air evacuation) raises the Iraq casualties to 59,000. The real numbers are likely much higher.

In addition, 11,000 U.S. contractor-mercenaries have been wounded in Iraq. It should not be forgotten that the “war on terror” is a global war; thus, another 7,000 soldiers were wounded or diseased in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Somalia and the Sahara Desert.

Looking solely at the wounded soldiers and mercenaries in Iraq, the total is 70,000—a conservative estimate—almost 18 times the number of dead. In the Vietnam War, the number was closer to 2.6 wounded for every death. (Washington Post, April 8, 2007) 

Improved battlefield medicine is saving more soldiers’ lives, but tens of thousands of soldiers are getting badly maimed, injured or sick.

As of June 2006, the Veterans Administration granted over 100,000 disability claims for soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Over 150,000 were filed. Six percent of wounded soldiers required amputation—twice the level from previous wars.

The Pentagon estimates 25 percent of Iraq veterans return home with physical or mental health problems requiring treatment. The Washington Post reported this year that one-third of all Iraq war veterans may suffer traumatic brain injuries—shell shock.

None of this compares, however, to the mass devastation wreaked on Iraqi people: over one million dead; millions more wounded or displaced from their homes.

Iraq is a country of 27 million people. To put the number of Iraqi deaths under occupation in perspective: an equal percentage of the U.S. population would be over 11 million people.

The U.S. imperialists hope to deceive the public by focusing on the relatively small number of soldier deaths; misleading people into thinking this war is far less costly in human capital than it truly is.