U.S. Military Death Toll in Iraq Approaches 1,500

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050225/us_nm/iraq_usa_casualties_dc&cid=1896&ncid=1480


The Pentagon (news - web sites) tally of military fatalities in Iraq released on Friday listed 1,480 U.S. deaths, including 1,130 killed in combat and 350 in nonhostile incidents such as vehicle and aircraft crashes. A further 11,069 U.S. troops have been wounded in combat.

<snip>

February, with at least 51 troops killed so far, is on track for the lightest monthly U.S. death toll since last July. But experts said it was premature to say the situation had improved unalterably for the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.


"The war is basically stalemated as a military contest," said retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich, a Boston University international relations professor.


Bacevich said the Pentagon still had not figured out the composition and organization of the insurgency, much less how to defeat it. The rebels cannot beat U.S. forces militarily although they can undermine their strength and cohesion, he added.

http://icasualties.org/oif/


Military Fatalities: By Time Period

Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days
4 56 0 2 58 2.23 26
3 579 26 27 632 2.93 216
2 717 27 58 802 1.89 424
1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43
Total 1492 86 87 1665 2.35 709

To View Period Details Click The Period Number
Time Periods Defined
Latest Fatality: Feb 25, 2005


Military Fatalities: By Month
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days
2-2005 52 0 2 54 2.16 25
1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31
12-2004 72 2 3 77 2.48 31
11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30
10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31
9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30
8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31
7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31
6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30
5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31
4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30
3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31
2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29
1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31
12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31
11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30
10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31
9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30
8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31
7-2003 47 1 0 48 1.55 31
6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30
5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31
4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30
3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12
Total 1492 86 87 1665 2.35 709

[coloradodem2005]

1. This is not good.

Between March 2003 and September 2004, we lost 1,000. 18 months. Now, we have lost nearly 500 more people in 5 months. This is really really bad. It's getting worse.

[MARALE]

2. Thank you Leftchick

I am always interested in how many soldiers have given their lives in this terrible war. It seems like the MSM doesn't care anymore, but every life lost is important!

[meganmonkey]

8. A great site to bookmark:

I check it waaaay too much. But it is fascinating if you are into statistics. You can look at the data from a hundred different directions. Sometimes it takes a couple hours for them to update but they are very accurate.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[MARALE]

13. Accually

I do check it every day. Like you, I like statistics. I also have a 16 year old and hope that the war isn't dragging out like the Viet-Nam war did. I also know a few families that have soldiers over there and watch for kids from Iowa that may have been killed. I kind of feel morbid with my fasination of it, but I think I may care too much.

[OneBlueSky]

3. that's the "official" number . . .

the actual number of US casualties is likely much, much higher . . . particularly if you count those who died from their wounds after being removed from the country and taken to US hospitals elsewhere . . .

[Guckert]

4. What is the count of private security officers??

Like the ones burnt hanging from the bridge?? there has got to be a large number of the mercenaries not counted by Gods chosen party.

[leftchick]

6. I have read several hundred...

but no one is keeping an official tally.

[meganmonkey]

9. According to one website

There are 207 'Contractors' so far - but they acknowledge that it is a partial list.


http://icasualties.org/oif/Civ.aspx

[LynnTheDem]

17. YES we DO count ALL troops who die later from wounds.

If they were wounded in Iraq and die later, then YES they are counted and it does not matter where they die; in Iraq, in Germnay, or back in the USA.

[VegasWolf]

19. Other numbers, 12,854 legs; 2354 arms gone,. n/t

[chlamor]

5. Freeway Blogger to Post 150 Signs On Bay Area Freeways

One Man. Two Days. More Than 3 Million People Reached.


Bay Area/San Jose, CA With the announcement of the 1500th U.S. soldier killed in Iraq, a lone activist known as the Freeway Blogger will post 150 banners on Bay Area freeways protesting the war in Iraq and the failure to find Osama Bin Laden. This action will reach communities including Marin, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Freeway Blogger has posted over 2,500 hand-painted signs on California freeways since the war began.

 





http://www.freewayblogger.com/pressrelease_feb23.htm

[leftchick]

7. that poor baby...

she will give me nightmares for years... :cry:

[chlamor]

10. I am outraged

As a father I see the images of Iraqi children enduring this madness and a mix of sorrow and anger washes over me. They are scarred for life in all ways. When the truth is silenced the silence becomes a lie.

A question I ask myself is how far do you go in getting these images into the public spaces of the American eyes, as the MSM won't dare acknowledge these atrocities. We are all being damaged by this. Give care.

[JohnyCanuck]

11. And there are probably hundreds more like her we don't know about.

From the Freeway Bloggers blog:

Last June, Yves Eudes, a reporter for Le Monde, came
to my house and interviewed me about freewayblogging.
He was a younger man, in his thirties, good looking
and somewhat reserved, almost shy, which for a reporter
surprised me. As a political and war correspondent
he'd been in Iraq three times since the invasion and I
asked him what it was like. Specifically, I asked if
he'd seen anything he knew he'd never be able to
forget. He told me this story, and I think about it
whenever I feel like giving up.

"I was in Nasariyah and a couple came up to me on the
street asking for help. They were carrying a large
gym bag, an 'Adidas' bag, with their daughter inside.
The city was in chaos, and they came up to me, I
suppose, because I was a westerner and they thought I could
help them. When I looked inside the bag there was a
little girl, maybe two years old, with bandages around
her head. There was a terrible smell and I thought to
myself 'Okay, they have a dead girl...' The bandages
were loose and soaked in fluid - it was a terrible
wound, covering half her head. I guessed they'd gotten
her to a hospital and they'd done what they could
quickly and gave her back. It was the early days of the
war and the hospitals were full. I couldn't believe it
when I saw she was still alive."

"I took them to the Americans, and there was a woman
soldier there, a big woman, who said there was nothing
they could do... that it had to be a military casualty
or something like that. I forget exactly. I want to
say she was mean, but I don't know. More like she was
just following her orders... she stood like this..."
he said, and folded his arms across his chest.

"We went to a couple more soldiers, but it was the
same. There was one young soldier who went for help, but
then came back saying he couldn't do anything. I went
with them for awhile longer, but it was obvious I was
useless. Eventually they just went away."

We were sitting in my garage, surrounded by the tools
of my trade: cardboard, paint, overhead projector.
Outside it was a beautiful day: a warm, late afternoon
in sunny southern California. "It's hard to describe
what they were like, the parents... they were beyond
sad, beyond scared... they were doing the only thing
they could do - looking for help - and I couldn't help
feeling that I'd wasted their time. I don't know if I
will ever forget their faces, or what it was like to
see their little girl... but the thing I know I will
never forget is the way they looked as they walked away,
wandering the streets with their baby in that bag...
looking for someone who could help them."

http://www.freewayblogger.com/weblog.htm

[Nordmadr]

12. This should have its own thread! N/T

[xxqqqzme]

15. this needs 2 B read by more

than just a few here. This should B on the leading page.

Post it in general discussion so it can B nominated.

[JohnyCanuck]

18. I have now posted in GD

under the title

"Iraqi mom and dad left to deal with collateral damage on their own."

Here's the link to the GD thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3178026

[llmart]

23. Better yet.......

let's stop preaching to the choir here. Print this story off and lay it around the lunchroom at work or leave it in the doctor's office on your way out.

[catmandu57]

14. What's a big fucking shame is

People just don't give a fuck, even here this thread will slip to page two, page three.... and into the archives. I'm getting to the point that if it takes a draft to wake people up, then to quote lil georgie* bring it on.

[LynnTheDem]

16. NO "wmd". NO "ties to 911". NO "ties to al Qaeda". NO "threat".

NO "greeted with flowers and chocolate". NO "spreading democracy".

NO "liberators, not occupiers".

Dead. For LIES.

[struggle4progress]

20. kick

[leftchick]

21. Update....

The U.S. military death toll is nearing 1,500 in the 23-month Iraq (news - web sites) war, with casualties easing in the weeks since the historic January 30, 2005 elections but with little evidence the insurgency has been crippled. The Pentagon (news - web sites) tally of fatalities in Iraq released on February 25 listed 1,480 U.S. deaths, including 1,130 killed in combat and 350 in nonhostile incidents such as vehicle and aircraft crashes. U.S. Army sergeant Luis Marerro holds a folded U.S. flag during his comrade Jesus Fonseca's funeral in his hometown of Degollado, in the Mexican state of Jalisco February 1. Fonseca was killed in Mosul as he inspected a vehicle wired with explosives. Photo by Stringer/Mexico/Reuters

[leftchick]

22. and the beat goes on....

Louisiana National Guard Staff Sgt. Nicholas J. Olivier is shown in an undated photo. Olivier, 26, was with the Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion of 256th Brigade Combat Team. He was killed Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005, when a homemade bomb exploded while he was on ground patrol in Baghdad. (AP Photo)