QUESTION: Can we verify the numbers of war dead?

[NoBushSpokenHere]

http://www.icasualties.org/oif/

Do we have any means to verify the Pentagon numbers? Are there any watch groups who could be monitoring this? I question the numbers for a variety of reasons:

The USA Today news report of approx. 20,000 head injuries. What would the odds there would be 20,000 head injuries and 2,703 killed?

Iraqi body count - http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ Minimum 43426 Maximum 48215 I believe I saw a number twice this amount a year or two ago. Also, what would the odds be of 2,703 to 43,426?

New Orleans - The military lockdown and secrecy causes me to doubt the real numbers killed by the inaction of our government.

Also, thought you might be interested in the following statistics:

IRAQ: U.S. DEATHS BY ETHNICITY http://www.icasualties.org/oif/ETHNICITY.aspx
American Indian or Alaska Native 28 1.05%
Asian 31 1.16%
Black or African American 261 9.81%
Hispanic or Latino 300 11.27%
Multiple races, pending, or unknown 49 1.84%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 27 1.01%
White 1965 73.84%
Total 2661

Last update from the DoD: 09/07/06



There is something about the amount that just doesn't feel right to me. Does anyone else have doubts?

[babylonsister]

1. Someone on here inferred that if you have a head injury and die

once you get home, you're not considered war dead. I don't know how this is being figured, but have no doubt it's not being done honestly.

[zulchzulu]

5. I've heard that if you die in Germany from Iraqi injuries, it's not...

...considered "dead from the Iraq War", hence not counted as a KIA. Isn't that special.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. We were through some of these concerns earlier in the war.

It is really hard for them to conceal the true number of American military KIA. The same may not apply to civilian contractors, particularly if they are of foreign origin.

The injury-to-death ratio has to do with modern emergency healthcare procedures. We can save many people who would have died in Vietnam. This does mean, of course, that many of the survivors are far more disabled and in need of long-term care than in previous wars. Migod, I'm a psychologist and have some comprehension of what the numbers of serious head injuries must mean in practical terms!

The Iraqi body count is anybody's guess. There were credible estimates even a couple of years ago that placed the number in the 100,000 range.

I'm somewhat surprised that the percentage of black KIA's is as low as stated here, and that the number of hispanics is so large. I would have guessed at least 20% black, based on the composition of our combat forces (as opposed to total military) in Vietnam. I guess the composition of the military has changed ver time, and maybe the KIA's aren't as strongly concentrated in the infantry as in the past.

[matt819]

3. Here's what I'd like to see

I don't see any way there will be accurate figures of civilian dead other than the methods used by icasualties or iraqbodycount (is that site still up?).

What I'd like to see is an effort to independently verify the US military deaths by reviewing US national news and local media reporting of US military deaths. After all, the Pentagon can come up with any number. Too low and they would be regarded as lies and too high, well, the reaction to that is reasonable. But the number they're using, well, that seems about right. Not good, of course, but not as bad as it could be. But is it correct? So, what I'd like is a review of all media reporting in the US of US military deaths reported in Iraq and Afghanistan and see if it approximates the official death toll reported by the Pentagon.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

4. Exactly --- we need to verify n/t