U.S. deaths in Iraq, war on terror surpass 9/11 toll

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Media: CNN.com
Byline: n/a
Date: September 3, 2006

(CNN) -- As the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States approaches, another somber benchmark has just been passed.

The announcement Sunday of four more U.S. military deaths in Iraq raises the death toll to 2,974 for U.S. military service members in Iraq and in what the Bush administration calls the war on terror.

The 9/11 attack killed 2,973 people, including Americans and foreign nationals but excluding the terrorists. The 9/11 death toll was calculated by CNN.

The comparison between fatalities in the war on terror and 9/11 was drawn last month by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"It's now almost five years since September 11, 2001," Pace said. "And the number of young men and women in our armed forces who have sacrificed their lives that we might live in freedom is approaching the number of Americans who were murdered on 9/11 in New York, in Washington, D.C., and in Pennsylvania."

Of the 2,974 U.S. military service members killed, 329 died in Operation Enduring Freedom and 2,645 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the Pentagon. The total includes seven American civilian contractors working for the military in Iraq.

Of the 329 U.S. military deaths in the Operation Enduring Freedom campaign, 261 occurred in Afghanistan, including many in recent months amid a resurgent Taliban guerrilla campaign. Many British and Canadian troops have also been killed recently as part of the force that is operating against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

The first U.S. service member to die in the Enduring Freedom campaign was Air Force Sgt. Evander Earl Andrew, 36, of Solon, Maine, killed in a heavy equipment accident in the northern Arabian peninsula on October 10, 2001.

Operation Enduring Freedom saw 893 Americans wounded, with 552 not returned to duty.

On March 20, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq to oust the Saddam Hussein regime, which, the Bush administration said, harbored and pursued weapons of mass destruction -- munitions that were never found. While the Hussein regime was swiftly defeated, an insurgency emerged that has proved harder to handle for the U.S.-led coalition.

Of the 2,645 deaths in Iraq, 2,104 have been in combat and 541 were the results of accidents, illnesses, suicides and other factors.

The first deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom were Marines -- four killed in a helicopter crash on March 20, 2003, and two killed in action in southern Iraq the next day.

In Iraq, 19,773 U.S. military personnel were wounded, with 8,991 not returning to duty. Many military and medical observers believe that advanced and prompt medical care saved hundreds, or even thousands, of lives.

Operation Iraqi Freedom casualties include deaths and injuries on or after March 19, 2003, in the Arabian Sea, Bahrain, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Persian Gulf, Qatar, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Before March 19, 2003, the casualties in these countries were considered part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Bush administration has consistently linked the Afghan and Iraq conflicts as part of an overall war on terror -- a much-debated idea since many critics of the Bush administration say the Hussein regime was never involved in sponsoring the al Qaeda terror network.

In the post-invasion period, though, terror groups -- including al Qaeda in Iraq -- have emerged, regularly conducting ruthless attacks against coalition and Iraqi military personnel and civilians.

Thursday, Bush emphasized that "Iraq is the central front in this war on terror." (Full story)

"If we leave the streets of Baghdad before the job is done, we will have to face the terrorists in our own cities. We will stay the course, we will help this young Iraqi democracy succeed, and victory in Iraq will be a major ideological triumph in the struggle of the 21st century."(From Orange County to al Qaeda)

The death tolls in both conflicts are expected to rise.

"We've come a long way in Afghanistan. We've come a long way in Iraq and elsewhere in the war on terrorism," said Pace. "We have a long way to go. We are a nation at war."
 
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So what are they trying to say with these numbers? If we had let them get away with the bombing then perhaps they would do it again? Perhaps try a different variation? How many more would have died due to our inaction?

Sure there are as many people gone. Without a doubt more will die or be injured as time progresses. The point is those people died or got injured knowing they had that chance and were willing to make that sacrifice.

Not only men but also women and children died on 9/11 . . .civilians. Most, if not all of which harbored the muslem nation and religion no ill will at all. It is unlikely that more than 10% had ever heard of Osama Bin Laden even. Yet people say we need to stop this war on terrorism. They say it is over or that we scared the big bad guy away. Scaring him away is not enough.

Read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. You can not just scare the bully away. You must destroy him utterly to prevent any possible reoccurence. (I am not talking about the main antagonist- the buggers, I am speaking of the bully at school)

I apologize if I am way off base. I just scanned through the article fast. But everytime I hear about the number of men and women that have died or been hurt, "for no good reason" - not stated in this article but has been stated in so many words in many other articles - it just about makes me want to go insane with anger.
 
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I think the point might be that if we were trying to prevent terrorist actions with the invasion of iraq so that fewer people would be killed, then perhaps we did not succeed since the american death toll is relatively high at this point.

Basically it's just a milestone or quasi milestone in this conflict, i don't like it anymore than you guys that people are dying, but that's what is happening and we need to fix the problem before it gets worse.
 
WM & MH
You are both correct in your statements.

It is a very sad fact that many Americans DO NOT view Iraq as part and parcel of the War on Terror. Many people call this "Bush's War" and blame it on just plain old fashioned revenge (for Saddam's plan to assassinate Bush Sr.).

Leaving the argument of the justification for invasion out of the discussion itself, how this tally of death is viewed is absolutely open for debate.

The bottom line is 2,974 of our finest have died as a result of GW's decision to go to war with Iraq. History will judge GW Bush for this decision and Americans everywhere will continue to agree/disagree with this decision. Sometimes with very heated words and opinions.
 
What's really sad is that the Bush doctrine is turning out to be less effective than the Brezhnev doctrine. In some cases Bush has actually indirectly encouraged radical islam by his diplomacy. I mean, name one country in the mid east where things have improved since after the invasion of Iraq.
 
First off, Ender's Game is a great book, one of my favorites.

These numbers are not entirely supprising, many people have been waiting for the number of deaths in this war to exceed the number from september 11. This does not change the fact that for better or for worse, we are there, and these numbers wont change that. The best we can do is to hope for a speedy conclusion so that these numbers dont climb too much higher.
 
What has really thrown the fox into the hen-house, is a recent report that the Taliban backed Al Qaeda and terrorists in the north of Afghanistan, have signed a 'treaty of understanding' that the terrorists will NOT make attacks against tribal forces in the northern region of Afghanistan. What this will do, is to remove the support of tribal forces in Northern Afghanistan that the allies have been depending on to keep a lid on the dissidents from that region. The end result is going to be the setting of the clock back, and allow the Taliban forces to give shelter to AlQaeda and other terrorist groups. Looks like we are going to have to fight the Afghanistan military operations all over again.

GW and his advisers were supposedly warned about this possibility but did nothing to prevent it. The death toll of our forces are about to start climbing AGAIN.

THANKS PRESIDENT BUSH.
 
Wow... We lost more men on Iwo Jima than we did at Pearl Habor. I am just glad people were not a stupid back then as some people are today.
 
Imagine if they reported D-Day like they are reporting the Iraq War...

53,700 Allied soldiers were killed today in a military action. 18,000 are missing and 155,000 were wounded. There are no further details.
 
The human struggle ...

The comment that mankind is geared for war ... that the greatest strides in all of the 'Hard' Sciences occurred during wars ... is true. But it is also true, that the greatest strides in Medicine and the Health Sciences occurred at the same time.

It seems that NO discovery is arrived at without a certain amount of pain and suffering. Whether it is a new form of airlift or some new treatment for burns and wounds ... wars are the great spur for knowledge. Without it, growth slows down and nations begin to stagnate.

Man ... without something to struggle against, turns inward and loses the edge that make him 'human'. It is the struggle that sets man apart from the rest of the animal kingdom and wars that promote growth.

Maybe I should have created a different thread for the above comments ..... SORRY.
 
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