Iraq War Statistics: 
An Iraq Vet's Reflections on Them

by
Frank A. Jones
___________________

     I write this essay after talking to my son who was in Iraq as a frontline combat marine. He is a war hero not merely because he went, albeit unwillingly, and came back alive but because of his actions there. As he went on a mission to rescue stranded marines whose truck had broken down, he and his fellow marines were attacked by an SUV suicide bomber as they returned from that rescue. Many of the men with him were killed, as he was blown out of the truck into the air. But for the grace of God he too would have been killed.
     At his return to Oakland after his tour of duty he received no hero's welcome, no write up in the local newspapers, no interviews on local TV; he merely came home quietly after serving. That is our family's way! Yes, he did received a Purple Heart for his bravery, and although we are not of those who crow of heroism, he ranks among the many  other quiet and unceremonial  heroes.
     Since returning, we have talked much about that war and his feelings about what he experienced there; this essay will reflect some of his feelings. FAJ
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The military likes to keep things sounding rosy even when they are not. For instance, the mounting costs of this war are slipped by the American people through quiet piecemeal appropriations in Congress for the war.

The amounts the US is spending for this Iraq war look like this: $275 billion thus far (2003-2006) and mounting at a rate of $10 billion a month. This is only the appropriations for the troops there, not those wounded (17,500 by US government figures) or killed (2,400 US soldiers by US figures); not counting the approximately 150,000 who will come back with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or the 17,500 who have physical wounds that they will live with the rest of their lives. And they will have benefits paid to them by the government for the rest of their lives.

Also, there are costs that are paid to Iraqis whose properties and lives were taken and destroyed by the US military or their mercenaries accidentally, illegally, or in error.

Another cost that is slipped by the American people is the total number of civilians killed in action. From various sources, the number is  34,511 to 38,660, according to http://www.iraqbodycount.net/. Iraqis killed are charted below, even though one callous Bush Administration official commented when asked about Iraqis killed, "They don't count." Someone thinks they count and has been keeping count:

A figure not widely known is the number of US military deserters. As was the case in Vietnam, there were deserters, so are there deserters from the Iraqi war. There have been about 8,000 deserters who have refused to serve and have gone awol. These are young men who wanted to live and were afraid they would die as so many have in this ugly war. While we honor those who have gone to Iraq at peril to their lives, and dishonor the man or men who needlessly placed them there, we understand those 8,000 who deserted--they were mostly kids who wanted an education, not fight a needless war in defense of nothing.
 
There is a haunting sadness that comes over me whenever I look at the pictures of young men who have died so needlessly in this war so far away from home. I am not sure this is just my feelings since my son was nearly killed and wounded while in Iraq or if it is the power of the photos themselves. You decide, look at cnn.com's markup of those young American faces who have died in Iraq: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/. So young and so needless was their deaths, regardless of the twisted spin this Republican government puts on this unpatriotic war.

The other statistic that is not widely known is the rising suicide rates among soldiers. There has been a spike in US soldier suicides. The first year there were 17 suicides, the second year there were 25, and that number has increased to 83 deaths in 2005.  The agony of my son was, no doubt, the agony of every young American soldier there: 

A night in Iraq seems like a thousand years for a soldier; you lie awake waiting for anything to happen, hoping that the daylight will come and you will still be here; you are so far from home, and so young. You wonder if you will ever make it home again; it is miserable, it is hell, and it is almost unbearable!

And that may explain why the suicides have increased and there is a desertion rate of 8,000 soldiers.

The military tells their young soldiers how  well they are armed compared to others and that they are the best trained military in the world, but Jihadist Iraqis who are willing to die will shatter that military reality. And a new reality sets in. That reality is this: you are not invincible, your mortality  crushes in upon you and you realize that death is near you, as you see your fellow soldiers go out and not come back.

This explains why my son hugs me so frequently whenever I take what I consider a short trip to Los Angeles from Oakland. He tells me, "Dad, I know, after Iraq, that it can happen to me. My young sense of immortality and invincibility is gone! I have seen men die next to me. It is not the other fellow that things happen to; it can be me!"

These are the types of feelings that young American boys far away from home are feeling, as Bush and Cheney sit safe and secure, not seemingly understanding or caring about the anguish of those whom they have placed in harm's way. I have my son back safely, but there are thousands of parents who have suffered and may suffer the loss of their children's lives and limbs; there are parents who have children who are suffering the same anguish my son experienced daily--a suffering I am not unfamiliar with, as I agonized in prayer and hoped for the safe return of my son in one piece. This is why we cannot allow this administration to run amok with the lives of our children as it pursues wars in various places around the world under the guise of fighting terrorism.

Osama Bin Ladden is still alive and making videos to the world as a testament to the Bush Administration's incompetence. And this administration is  incompetently fighting  the wrong nation and prosecuting the wrong war for the wrong reasons at great expense of human lives and US taxpayers' money.

As retired US generals are finally speaking out against this ugly war, it is time for the American people to finally speak out more forcefully saying, bring this Vietnam style Iraqi debacle to an end. Let us stop this government from torturing our children.
 

"Bring the boys home; bring them back alive!
[Freda Payne]

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