Some commentators and bloggers look at the numbers of American dead in Iraq, compare them to the numbers of dead in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War and try to make the case that the situation is not as bad as in those other conflicts. According to these commentators, the “low number” of dead in Iraq relative to other wars is evidence that we are succeeding there.
However, comparing the statistics from these wars paints a false picture of what is really going on in Iraq because our medical care is far more advanced. According the U.S. Army Medical Command, the ratio of killed to wounded was one to three in World War II, and one to four in both Korea and Vietnam. That means that the number of U.S. soldiers, airmen and Marines dead is lower per combat engagement than in other wars and that comparing the number of killed in action by war does not show what the true intensity of combat operations in Iraq really is.
A quick look at the numbers shows that the intensity of combat operations in Iraq is far greater than the number of dead might indicate. As of this writing, the number of U.S. military personnel killed by enemy fire in Iraq is 1106. The number of causalities from Operation Iraqi Freedom processed by Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany by the end of November, 2004 was 17,868. The number of troops listed as wounded-returned-to-duty (returned to action within 72 hours) at the end November, 2004 was 4503. All told, this adds up to 22,371.
If our troops had only the medical care of the World War II, G.I., there would be approximately 7,457 Americans killed in action to this point in the war. If our medical care in Iraq was only as good as our medical care in Korea or Vietnam, 5593 U.S. troops would have been killed in Iraq today.
These back-of-the-napkin figures indicate that Operation Iraqi Freedom is not going well at all. Were the numbers anywhere near what they were in Vietnam, Korea, or World War II, the political landscape in this country and in Iraq would be far different.
Ted Kennedy was right. Iraq is George W. Bush's Vietnam. He just has better P.R. than LBJ.