Thursday, August 30, 2007

U.S. Fatalities for August. What's working in Iraq?!


This the last day remaining in August and the Administration pointing to the "facts" that the "surge" is working and citing the lower count in U.S. Fatalities as the evidence, I had to set the record straight. August's total U.S. Casualties is now 81, and last year the number was 65. These are real facts. What else has been distorted? They cite that this is the lowest month for U.S. Fatalities since the high back in May where 126 had died. This is nothing but spin. Yes, there were 126 deaths in Iraq in May, and we have come down steadily each month. That is fact. But let's look at the numbers for the same period for each year from May to August.

2004 May through August 242
2005 May through August 297
2006 May through August 244
2007 May through August 389

Is there any doubt now about how the data is being misused?!

Here's more real data. From the chart above you can see that for the same periods each year, that is from Sept. to Aug., which is a full year, this period of the war by far has been the most deadly. President Bush and his minions in the Administration are not only misleading the American public but also, more importantly, making a dishonest representation of the facts.

From Sept. 2003-Aug. 2004 693 U.S. fatalities
From Sept. 2004-Aug. 2005 902 U.S. fatalities
From Sept. 2005-Aug. 2006 759 U.S. fatalities
From Sept. 2006-Aug. 2007 1095 U.S. fatalities!

Bring the troops home before the list grows. Bring home the troops before this President starts another war, this time with Iran. If the troops aren't there they can't be used to launch another war of choice. If you are truly a patriot you will start speaking out more forcefully and more often. The Silent Majority has been too silent for too long!

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3 Comments:

Blogger Jeb Koogler said...

Charles,

I have great respect for your passion and consistent advocacy for our troops. I am curious: do you have a personal connection with American military? Or, perhaps a better question is, where does your strong advocacy stem from?

6:20 AM  
Blogger Jeb Koogler said...

*the American military

6:21 AM  
Blogger Charles Amico said...

Thanks for your comment and your question Jeb. First to answer your question. I do not have any more of a personal connection with American military and the troops any more than most Americans. I know several people who are there as do most Americans.

My passion comes from being lied to by this President and his Administration in hopes of staying there to continue to fight. Every single military advisor and all elected officials believe, rightfully so, that this conflict can only be solved by diplomacy between the parties in the region. When you consider we have been in this war now 5 years and have no serious political effort going on, it is a disgrace all this while our kids die for nothing. I remember Vietnam vividly and the lies were told then too. But we had a Draft then and thousands upon thousands of young students marched in the streets when it was apparent their government wasn't going to end something that obviously needed to be ended. It was only by the student protesting that everything was brought to a head. And before this President is finished in office he could well get us into a war with Iran. Unchecked this guy is very dangerous and it is by speaking out against his policy that we put some, although limited, constraint on his advocacy of a war with Iran. It would be easy as we have the troops and the equipment already in theater. How would that get you to feel and think about this mess?

Jeb, you're a good writer and thoughtful young mind. But you're not in this fight as there is no Draft and you haven't signed up to go and fight there. Think about why. Until this becomes personal for people, their voices and their feet won't be moved to action.

Every Sunday morning on ABC's This Week, I read the names of every person who dies this week in Iraq and often I get tears in my eyes just thinking of the pain their family has to endure with their loss and I ask for what reason?

As difficult it is to withdraw from a mistake, we must. We are almost broke as a Nation. This war is truly costing us a Trillion dollars that could have been spent to do some wonderful things. We could raise every teachers salary to $100,000 per year which would attract many more capable and wonderful professionals to become teachers. This would only cost us about $250 billion as a country and would well be worth the expense. We could build Supertrains to cut down on traffic on our highways. We could invest in alternative energy on a massive scale to help us be independent of Middle Eastern oil. I'll bet you could add a few things yourself Jeb.

Again, thanks for the question

7:26 AM  

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