'Staggering': Medical Evacuations from Iraq Near 11,000

[Vitruvius]

WASHINGTON -- The total number of wounded soldiers and medical evacuations from the war in Iraq is nearing 11,000, according to new Pentagon data provided in response to a request from United Press International.

The military has made 8,581 medical evacuations from Operation Iraqi Freedom for non-hostile causes in addition to the 2,273 wounded -- a total of 10,854, according to the new data. The Pentagon says that 457 troops have died. <DNIP>

It is a toll the country has not seen since Vietnam, said Aseneth Blackwell, former national president of Gold Star Wives of America, Inc., a support group for people who lose a spouse from war. "It is staggering," said Blackwell. Blackwell, who lost her husband in 1969 in Vietnam, sometimes visits Walter Reed Army Medical Center where some Iraq veterans get medical care. "To see these guys walking around up there with an arm missing, a leg missing, that is when it hits you in the face," said Blackwell.

According to data released to UPI from the Army Medical Command, the military as of Nov. 30 made 8,581 medical evacuations <SNIP>; 3,843 <SNIP> for "non-battle injuries" and 4,738 for "disease" between March 19 and Nov. 30. Examples of non-battle evacuations were for bone injuries and surgery, the Army said. Examples of disease evacuations include brain, heart, stomach, or mental problems. The evacuations include causes as diverse as dental problems and gynecological issues. <SNIP>

More at http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1219-09.htm

Note that the "disease" category includes effects from exposure to depleted uranium.

P.S: I posted this in GD because it's too old for LBN; the original UPI report was yesterday.

[Newsjock]

1. Sickening -- and here's what you can do about it

Every day, The Associated Press transmits a summary of the death and injury counts for the Iraq war. (It usually gets posted here as LBN, in fact.)

The injury count in this report is the lower number of 2,200-plus, not the higher number that includes all medical evacuations, as reported by UPI.

This higher number obviously is available to news organizations that work to get it -- and the AP should be making this number available as part of its daily report.

Why is this important? Newspapers across the country (including my own) run this summary almost every day. Very few newspapers still get UPI, and our local (skittish) editors won't allow us to use the higher number unless it's "certified" by the AP.

What can you do? Contact the AP and politely ask them to start reporting the full Iraq casualty count. And if your local newspaper isn't regularly reporting the latest casualty count, politely contact them and ask that they do so.

[spotbird]

2. It must be time to cut veterans benefits again.

And in a hurry, this could cost the government some money.

[NJCher]

3. AP

Thanks, Newsjock. Here is the AP address info. I'm sending snail mail but there's an e-mail address, too:

http://www.ap.org/

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

International Headquarters
50 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10020

MAIN NUMBER
212-621-1500




Cher