Separating 'other' military deaths out from "hostile fire" deaths is bunk

[Bucky]

1853 servicemembers have died in Iraq. I heard a war supporter on the radio today trying to run that number down to the 1400+ who've been killed by hostile fire. If you hear someone say this, cry "foul." The guys who died in helicopter crashes and truck accidents and who suicided or got ill and died over there are all equally victims of the circumstances created by the deployment of US troops into a country who didn't attack us.

For that matter, they should count the dozens who served their stints over there, then came back so stressed out that they killed themselves in the US during their first weeks stateside. They're the casualties of war too. These are all risks of war time. Noncombat fatal accidents are as much a risk of wartime as getting shot by the enemy. It's all dangerous, it's all a noble calling, and they've all been betrayed by an administration who lied us into war and has been subverting the Constitution ever since.

Phew, it's good to get that off my chest.

[growlypants]

1. I hear that if you dont die ON THE GROUND there in Iraq

then they dont count you. Apparently if you die in one of the hospitals, you're not counted. Think about it.....if someone isnt blown up by a car bomb or something for a full week (lets say) the death toll doesnt change. Now you mean to tell me that in that week NOBODY died in the hospital???? And you never hear the death toll updated with them saying "2 servicemen died while in a hospital in Germany today." You NEVER hear that. You ONLY hear about those who died ON THE SPOT. I'm telling you, they're covering up the actual death toll. And thats the reason that freak BUSH wont alow the caskets to be photographed....then we'd really know how many have died so far.

[madeline_con]

5. I've heard that, too. You have to actually expire on Iraqi soil...

Otherwise, you don't get on the list.

I've heard people say all the deaths (names) are listed on a site, and no one has contacted the site to say their family member or friend isn't on the list, so I'm still undecided. :shrug:

[SidDithers]

6. Can you supply the name of a soldier who has died outside of Iraq...

who doesn't appear at icasualties.org?

Thanks,

Sid

[Jim Sagle]

2. Of COURSE it's bunk. That's why they do it.

[Redstone]

3. Of COURSE it's bullshit.

You're not even counting the brain-dead ones who get hooked up to heart-lung machines and flown to Germany to die, thereby neatly removing them from the "butcher's list."

(This is not tinfoil-hat stuff; it's been well-documented, even in the MSM, since about April.)

All part of the Grand Cynical Game.

Redstone

[SidDithers]

7. See post #6..

just one name, please.

Thanks,

Sid

[niallmac]

4. Some DUers

who work to keep the count honest straightened me out in no uncertain terms that the count is accurate, verifiable and that for the government to do otherwise would be foolhardy.
I assumed that this was just another instance in life where I didn't know what the hell I was talking about and considered myself corrected.
The point you make is compelling however. Why does the count not go up regardless of the next roadside bomb when someone dies in Germany or in the U.S. months later?
Does the count indeed advance as soldiers die here later outside of Iraq? I don't recall that being the case. Hmmm, paranoia strikes deep.

[asianmale]

8. And, don't forget the PTSD

That is particularly nasty to live with.
My uncle never got over WW2. Died at 83 still having nightmares.