Military Deaths and Proportionality

source: ...What is never compared is the number of military deaths during the Clinton administration: 1,245 in 1993; 1,109 in 1994; 1,055 in 1995; 1,008 in 1996. That's 4,417 deaths in peacetime but, of course, who's counting?

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Mark de LA says

seth 2007-02-21 08:46:58 6142

I doubt that these numbers have anything to do with who's administration was in the white house. I would expect that it is slightly higher than the mortality rate for the rest of the population. The 3,000+ US military deaths are directly attributable to casualitys of war ... quite a different thing. Personally i am more concerned with the civilian deaths that have been running between 1,000 and 2,000 per month for the last 6 months ... note that your figures above are per year.

Yep, and you don't consider that most of the Iraqi deaths are caused by terrorists or are enemy terrorists.
proportionality is the word - dear friend.

Seth says

All i'm saying is that the only valid frame of reference for deciding the fate of a so called Iraqi government is the Iraqi people. It should not be a dream of Western style democracy. Strangely enough the Iraqi people have never had an identity as such ... that identity has always been imposed upon them from abroad ... or by strongmen like Saddam. Identity wise Iraqi people are Kurds, Shia, and Sunni. You should read what T.E. Lawrence wrote about that area back in the 20's. I still say the very best strategy from here is for the US government to plot a course to a stable end point that minimizes the body count. But, sans that, we should just withdraw and let these people, for once in their history, decide their own fate. The same goes for the rest of the Middle East.

Shia and Sunni are killing each other ... we got in the middle of that ... now what?

Mark de LA says

M 2007-02-21 10:02:29 6142

seth 2007-02-21 09:57:33 6142

Who killed whom is solely in the plane of RWG. If you want out of that plane, then just look at the deaths.

If that were so then you would be just as vocal & concerned about Darfur & Rwanda in Africa.

New York city, car accidents etc. which I pointed out previously in another item.

Mark de LA says

So devolving the fate of the Iraqi people to the majority Shia (propped up by Iran) killing off the Sunni in a bloodbath (similar to what happened after the US left Viet Nam) is your idea of what is good for the Iraqis. The Kurds who have been able to take care of themselves would then likely take the opportunity to combine with the Kurds in Turkey & form a new Kurdistan; thus destabilizing Turkey. Meanwhile the Sunni of Saudi Arabia could strike back at the Shia & the Middle East goes up in flames. Right now, the MSM notwithstanding, things are not so bad. Apparently the southern provinces & Basra are calm enough for the Brits to withdraw some. And, wonder on wonder the Packs & Indians are making nice on nukes & terrorism.

.....as S & M wander further off topic!

Mark de LA says

And from the Wikipedia comes a table of the causes of death from all sources; ( war, murder & suicide) being the 15th.

% of all deaths caused by war, murder & suicide was 2.84%. All deaths were 57,029,000 in 2002. Go to the table for the rest. Most of it is disease & accidents.

Seth says

M 2007-02-21 10:56:28 6142

[Without US prescence,] [snip] the majority Shia (propped up by Iran) [will kill] off the Sunni in a bloodbath (similar to what happened after the US left Viet Nam) [snip redicolous predicate]. The Kurds who have been able to take care of themselves would then likely take the opportunity to combine with the Kurds in Turkey & form a new Kurdistan; thus destabilizing Turkey. Meanwhile the Sunni of Saudi Arabia could strike back at the Shia & the Middle East goes up in flames.

This is one of these memes which has been repeated so many times that most people who hear it must by now automatically assume that it is true. Here is a thought excercise ... suspend your belief in this meme for just a minute and think how a Iraq stability point can be achieved ... how most likely it will be achieved (assuming of course that your meme above is untrue).

Btw, and unrelated, read this.

Mark de LA says

seth 2007-02-21 17:43:13 6142

M 2007-02-21 10:56:28 6142

rhetoric which misses any substance - please try having some substance.

Military Deaths and Proportionality

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