Military Releases High Casualty Figures

(CBS)  CBS News investigative producer Pia Malbran wrote this story for CBSNews.com.

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The Department of Defense has released its latest American military casualty numbers for those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the figures reveal non-fatal casualties that go well beyond the more than 4,000 U.S. troops who have died so far.

As of April 5, a total of 36,082 members of the U.S. military have been wounded in action and killed in Iraq, since the beginning of the war in March 2003, and in Afghanistan, where the war there began in October 2001. The 36,082 number breaks down to 4,492 deaths and 31,590 wounded. According to the same DoD "casualty" counts, an additional 38,631 U.S. military personnel have also been removed from the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan for "non-hostile-related medical air transports."

"That's a tremendous number," said Paul Sullivan, the executive director of the advocate group Veterans for Common Sense, who believes these latest figures paint a more realistic picture of the true cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars. He is concerned troop casualties, including those who have been wounded, killed and medically transported, is now nearing 75,000.

Defense Department spokesperson Cynthia Smith, however, told CBS News the numbers must be carefully interpreted. Smith said the 38,631 "non-hostile-related medical air transports" are not casualties of war even though they are listed in the DoD's "casualty" documents because, she says, they were for "injuries not related to service, they were unrelated to combat."

Smith described the "non-hostile-related" injuries as the types that "could happen to any civilian on the street."

"Our main focus is severe trauma care in the theater," she said. For example, "if a woman needs her annual check up, we don't have the capability of doing that [on the ground in Iraq] so we would air transport her out." According to Smith, the 36,082 tally is a more "accurate" reflection how many military service men and women have been fatal and non-fatal casualties in connection to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as of April 5.

Sullivan points out that the military's casualty reports also exclude the "enormous number [of new veterans] flooding the VA," often with medical problems developed due to the war. A January report by the Department of Veterans Affairs showed 299,585 veterans who recently served in the Middle East had been treated by the VA since 2002. Forty percent (120,049) of the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who sought care from the VA did so for mental health disorders.

[ah64mtp]

Yea, Yea, Yea,... Five pages of mostly sniviling twits who want us to leave Iraq, the central focus of AlQuida, and send them to an armpit called Darfur under the Usless Nations "Leadership." I want a number...How many will die in Darfur before you leave them to fend for themselves.

For Clinton, the number was 18 dead and 72 wounded before he ran like a ***-slapped ***. If you can''t pull the trigger and stay in the fight until every one of the *** are dead or captured, you have no business being in a leadership position as Commander in Chief. Oh, BTW one of thos 18 dead was a classmate of mine in flight school at Ft Rucker.

[venkata4--2008]

Simply saying 31,000 plus injured. How many are permanently in living vegetable state with brain injuries, have become completely blind, lost all the limbs.

Oh, well does not matter as long as Halliburton is making 2 billions net profit per quarter and when 30 year cheap crude oil supply agreement is signed with big oil companies.

[danofwar]

Go to Rense.com for insightful blogs and news releases.
DOD/US imputes them as a threat.
There is a great depiction of the team responsible for weapons of the masses destruction. WMD...

[tree51]

anticorp47. Question. I too noticed a time delay or buffering of casualty reports in RVN such as, the casualties from a truck convoy ambush not being reported all on one day but over a period of weeks.
Unfortunately I no longer have the details so my recall of the incident would only be classified as anecdotal.

[aldee41]

It would have been so much cheaper in terms of money had we just bought oil rather than follow King George the Usurper''s plan to steal it from Iraq. The loss of life and crippling injury are a Stupidity Surcharge added to the cost. We also have not reaped any oil from this blundering scheme. Come November...

[watcher269-2009]

Oh, great - more guys on the corner with signs...

Posted by Inventagod

---------------------------

It''s called Freedom of Speech - but if the Republicans get back in office like the first 6 years of Bushit - there will be no Free Speech anymore!

Just like your stupid comment here - Free Speech - although I''d like to see you in Cuba getting waterboarded for that stupid comment!

I believe that if Republicans want waterboarding - I say we waterboard every single one of them.

[joepolitico]

Is one injury or death in a war built on lies too great a loss, or are 374,298?

Our political leaders appointed, designated, and elected seem to believe and think these are acceptable numbers. They don%u2019t? Then stop making excuses and bring our troops home now. Oh, this is a complicated matter is it?

While we may not be able to end every conflict faster, we should allow our law makers and leaders to experience firsthand all the many wonderful, positive benefits and splendor war cause and create by having it made law they all must serve on the frontline for a minimum of 6 months.

How about have an amendment added to the Constitution which mandates when the number of injured and dead exceed 375,000, then immediately and without fail or exception shall every person in a political position at the state or federal level have all of their children over the age of 18 immediately cease their current standing and be required to serve on the frontline in the military or civilian sector for a minimum amount of time to be no less than, equal or greater to the amount of time of the military member who has spent the longest amount of time in harm%u2019s way.

Where upon a appointed, designated, or elected political leaders has no children, then they will fall under the same circumstances and be immediately sent to the frontlines to support the existing conflict they so willingly send our troops to address.

It may not be an ideal solution, but it sure is a great start.

[cattlekate]

Someone old like me help me with this -

So about thirty years ago, Nam vets were saying Agent Orange cause all sorts of birth defects, sickness and cancers.

They were pooh-poohed away.

Denial, denial denial.

And many of them died in the denial process.

Then, slowly, the Vet Administration acknowledgesd "some" sicknesses, cancers and birth defects were indeed a result of Agent Orange.

So my question is - how many decades will it take for the Vet Administration to acknowledge depleted uranium is causing cancers and birth defects?

And how long will it take for these soldiers and marines to have their names on the casualty lists?

[inventagod]

Oh, great - more guys on the corner with signs...

[anticorp47]

Who do they think they''re fooling with all these spooled up numbers. In Viet Nam, I would look at daily casualty reports and nowhere in the news, which was limited, would I see anything like the kia, mia, or wia figures that I had transmitted back to headquarters.
It''s a shame that the greediest are running this country in all of its aspects. Let me put up just a few examples:
War
housing
taxation
outsourcing
honesty
integrity
finance
torture

I could go on this all day and still not be able to show disappointed I am in the way this country lies to its citizenry at any time.
What is the latest tale from our fearless leader?
How about We might be in a resesion or how about the great care that our vets are getting when they do return. FTA