Jul 29th, 2008 | survey

Why didn't people care about the lives of soldiers during peacetime when the average number of deaths per year was higher?


According to:
http://icasualties.org/oif/
4124 US soldiers have died in Iraq.

Between 1980 and 2006 the average number of soldiers that have died per year is 1,560.

The average number of deaths between 1980 and 2000 is 1,586.

The average number of military deaths between 2001 and 2006 is 1,465.

I have to wonder why people are making a huge deal about the deaths of soldiers during the Bush administration while the number of deaths during the Iraq war is actually below the peacetime average.

Why didn't people care about the lives of soldiers during peacetime when the average number of deaths per year was higher?

To me these statistics establish that politicians, specifically Liberal Democrats, don't care about soldiers deaths and politicians only use death statistics for their own political gain.

Who knows how many soldiers die annually on average? - Yahoo! Answers 




19 votes, 124 views , 15 comments
 
 

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Comments (15)
Dawnbells
(Reply)
Kansas, United States

posted Sep 21st, 2008 at 23:16 CDT

The last two answers seem correct. The media plays an" important" role in matters of public reaction.

Drowlord
(Reply)
Texas, United States

posted Aug 3rd, 2008 at 11:48 CDT

I'm not against the war and I have no liberal agenda.  I just like to verify information before I'm willing to repeat it.  You claim that the average number of deaths between 1980 and 2000 is 1586, but no data remotely of this type is on the website you linked to.  The website you linked only shows Iraq-related casualties.I'm not questioning your analysis or your math skills.  I am just asking where your data comes from.  You provided a link to only half of it.

Philgtaylor
(Reply)
Australia

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 23:56 CDT

No just include all military deaths, both inside and outside the battlefield like those you quote for before the Iraq war.

Philgtaylor
(Reply)
Australia

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 23:54 CDT

The problem is not that you are adding 2 and 2, but the fact that you are ignoring a whole lot of other numbers. You are saying that the total military deaths on average is down, but in your figures for Iraq you are only counting the deaths in battle, where these deaths are ADDITIONAL deaths, and should be added to the number of natural and accidental deaths in places that are not Iraq. You are not including the deaths outside Iraq and afghanistan in the total for military deaths. That is why the number is lower than what it is expected to be.

Philgtaylor
(Reply)
Australia

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 23:49 CDT

You are talking REPORTED murders in Philadelphia, as opposed to the REPORTED murder rate in Iraq. The problem here is that ALL the murders in Philadelphia are reported, but only a fraction of those in Iraq are reported.

Philgtaylor
(Reply)
Australia

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 23:48 CDT

If you have a look at the TITLE of the website, it is dedicated to fatalities in the IRAQ battlezone. It does not include military deaths outside Iraq. You are comparing a (large) fraction of military deaths with the TOTAL military death count for previous years. So there is going to be a discrepancy isnt there?

Fmccue7
(Reply)
New York, United States

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 16:43 CDT

Some people want 2+2 to equal 3 but no matter what its always going to equal 4

Fmccue7
(Reply)
New York, United States

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 16:43 CDT

Some people want 2+2 to equal 3 but no matter what its always going to equal 4

Fmccue7
(Reply)
New York, United States

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 16:27 CDT

Take a major US City Philly; As of November 2007 (11/25), the murder rate in Philadelphia is more than the rate of coalition and civilian killed in Iraq. Philly is at one per day per 1.5 million. Iraq is at 15 per day per 27.5 million.Thus, Philly’s rate is .67 per day per million, anf Iraq’s is .55 per day per million.

Fmccue7
(Reply)
New York, United States

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 15:33 CDT

What do you want, the name of each casualty?

Fmccue7
(Reply)
New York, United States

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 15:32 CDT

Look it up

Fmccue7
(Reply)
New York, United States

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 15:32 CDT

The soldiers are doing what they volunteered and were trained to do. 

Drowlord
(Reply)
Texas, United States

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 13:47 CDT

The link you've provided only summarizes military casualties since the Iraq war.  Where is the rest of this data?

Politicass
(Reply)
California, United States

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 04:44 CDT

I find this data sketchy at best.

Philgtaylor
(Reply)
Australia

posted Jul 29th, 2008 at 03:52 CDT

So what you are implying is that the American soldiers in Iraq are safer in a WAR ZONE than back in the States?It sounds like the statistics are being juggled here, certain types of casualties that were being counted in the 1980s not being counted today. And are the military contractors being included today? Those doing work that would, during the 80s, have been done by military personnel? There are THOUSANDS of those people in Iraq...  Of course Iraqi fatalities are not being counted at all...

 
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