WP: Number of Wounded in Action on the Rise

[kskiska]

Fewer Troops Killed in Iraq, but Injuries Continue Unabated

Tuesday, September 2, 2003; Page A01

U.S. battlefield casualties in Iraq are increasing dramatically in the face of continued attacks by remnants of Saddam Hussein's military and other forces, with almost 10 American troops a day now being officially declared "wounded in action."

The number of those wounded in action, which totals 1,124 since the war began in March, has grown so large, and attacks have become so commonplace, that U.S. Central Command usually issues press releases listing injuries only when the attacks kill one or more troops. The result is that many injuries go unreported.

The rising number and quickening pace of soldiers being wounded on the battlefield have been overshadowed by the number of troops killed since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations May 1. But alongside those Americans killed in action, an even greater toll of battlefield wounded continues unabated, with an increasing number being injured through small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades, remote-controlled mines and what the Pentagon refers to as "improvised explosive devices."

Indeed, the number of troops wounded in action in Iraq is now more than twice that of the Persian Gulf War in 1991. The total increased more than 35 percent in August -- with an average of almost 10 troops a day injured last month.

Fifty-five Americans were wounded in action last week alone, pushing the number of troops wounded in action since May 1 beyond the number wounded during peak fighting. From March 19 to April 30, 550 U.S. troops were wounded in action in Iraq. Since May 1, the number totals 574. The number of troops killed in Iraq since the beginning of May already has surpassed the total killed during the height of the war.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12096-2003Sep1.html

[roguevalley]

1. They're lying about the number wounded. It's about 8000

or so now.

[Nottingham]

2. Stop the Presses! There are American Soldiers Wounded!

When did the Press start figuring this out!

Lets see we are going on two years Now and Deaths are larger than Desert storm! The Longer we are there the more of our troops DIE and are wounded!

Where is those Press pictures of our soldiers wounded

Hidden in silence!

[IndianaGreen]

7. As the Post says, they only report the wounded when there are KIAs

so the number of wounded that has been reported is ridiculously low.

C-17s landing every day carrying wounded? That's a pretty big plane!

[NNN0LHI]

3. So they hold reports of deaths back for a few days and then they...

...they don't ever have to report the number of wounded. Nice, huh?

Don

[markses]

4. I have collected all press reports of wounded and killed

and used CENTCOM's site to confirm. Nowhere - ever - have I seen this figure of 10 a day wounded. It is simply not reported until this article. Here are the numbers from August.

1-Aug

2 killed: 1 - 1st Armor, Baghdad, stray bullet; 1 - 4th ID, N. Iraq, RPG attack
3 wounded, RPG attack

2-Aug

2 killed: Baghdad "homemade bomb" hits convoy
4 wounded, same incident, including 1 shot in the neck.

3-Aug

4-Aug
5 wounded, Baghdad firefight; 2 wounded, Fallujah police station raid

5-Aug
1 killed: Fell off roof while on guard duty, Mosul

6-Aug
2 killed: Firefight - Baghdad

7-Aug
2 wounded Humvee RPG attack - Baghdad

8-Aug
4 wounded, various action Baghdad and Mosul

9-Aug

10-Aug
3 killed: 1 - 4th ID Hostile fire Baquba; 1 heat stroke; 1 "found dead in living quarters"
6 wounded in various hostile incidents (Baquoba, Baghdad University, Baghdad airport road)

11-Aug
1 killed: "Car accident," Mosul
4 wounded, various attacks

12-Aug
3 killed: 1 - 3rd Armored Cavalry - roadside bomb, Ramadi; 1 - 4th ID - roadside bomb, al-Taji; 1 - 3rd Armored Cavalry - "died in sleep" Ramadi
2 wounded, 3 AC incident

13-Aug
1 killed: 4th ID - Roadside bomb, south of Tikrit (ad Dwar)
2 wounded, same incident

14-Aug
1 UK killed: RPG attack, outside Basra
2 UK wounded, same incident

15-Aug

16-Aug
4 wounded, Baghdad

17-Aug

18-Aug
1 killed: 1st Armored Division - Explosive device, Karada section of Baghdad

19-Aug
4 wounded, convoy attack, Tikrit

20-Aug
2 killed: 1 - Small arms fire/ car accident; 1 - 1st Armored Division - Improvised explosive device, Baghdad
2 wounded, small arms fire, Tikrit; 2 wounded, Baghdad incident

21-Aug
2 killed: 1 - 1st Armored division - Fire breaks out at small arms range; 1 - Service member attached to the 1 MEF, shot in SUV, al-Hillah
6 wounded, small arms range fire.

22-Aug
6 wounded, hitting a mine outside Tikrit, 555th Combat Engineering Group

23-Aug
3 UK killed: Military police (UK) shot to death in Basra

24-Aug
2 killed: 1 - 3rd Armored Cavalry - "drowned to death'; 1 - 3rd Armored cavalry - non-hostile gunshot wound

25-Aug

26-Aug
3 killed: 1 - 3rd Corps Support Command killed by IED, Baghdad; 1 -4th ID soldier hit by car; 1 - 130 Engineer Brigade dies of "non-hostile" gunshot wound: CBS news says self-inflicted
2 wounded, Baghdad IED attack

27-Aug
2US, 1UK killed: 1 - 3rd Armored Cavalry - IED attack, Fallujah; 1 - 205th Military Intelligence Brigade - IED, Baghdad; 1 - British soldier shot to death in Ali al-Gharbi, outside Basra
3 wounded, Fallujah attack; 2 wounded, Baghdad attack; 1 British soldier wounded in Ali al-Gharbi attack

28-Aug
1 killed: "Non-combat causes" in Kuwait
4 wounded, convoy attack, Fallujah (IED goes off under bridge)

29-Aug
2 killed: 1 - 4th ID - Convoy attacked with RPGs and small arms, Baquoba; 1 - 4th ID - one soldier drowns when vehicle "falls in canal" near Tikrit
3 wounded, Baquoba incident; 2 wounded, RPG attack in Fallujah; 2 wounded when "vehicle falls in canal," Tikrit

30-Aug
2 wounded near Kirkuk in convoy ambush

31-Aug

Cruel Summer.....

[diamond14]

5. the chronic (long-term) toxic effects of depleted Uranium are just

now showing up and will only get worse as time goes on...some of the chemical exposures (PCB's from transformers, oil fires, contaminated water from benzene and other toxic chemicals, carcinogenic nitrosoamines formed from the reactions of soil and explosives, pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides from bombing agricultural operations)....

there will be many more SICK sICK and permanently disabled soldiers...some will die from cancers caused by GWII, some will have deformed children, and other genetic defects...

these deaths and injuries are the UNCOUNTED deaths and injuries...

Gulf War I Vets now have 250,000 people collecting permanent disability payments from the VA.....

[lebkuchen]

6. Those wounds are probably just stubbed toes and sprained ankles

right?

If it were any worse than that, the media would have been reporting it because it's important for us to know the price Americans are paying for Bush's oil war.

Right. And frogs play banjos.

[fizzana]

9. According to Ann Coulter its just

severe cases of "mussed hair".

As quoted by her a couple of nights ago on MSNBC.

And has one administration person even bothered to go down to Walter Reed to see the injured, and maybe to thank them. Not one, I'll bet.

[fizzana]

8. And there's this from the article

Since the war began, more than 6,000 service members have been flown back to the United States. The number includes the 1,124 wounded in action, 301 who received non-hostile injuries in vehicle accidents and other mishaps, and thousands who became physically or mentally ill.

<snip>

The result has been large numbers of troops coming back to Walter Reed and National Naval Medical with serious blast wounds and arms and legs that have been amputated, either in Iraq or at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where virtually all battlefield casualties are treated and stabilized.

"A few of us started volunteering as amputees in 1991, and this is the most we've seen ever," said Jim Mayer, a double amputee from the Vietnam War who works at the Veterans Administration. "I've never seen anything like this. But I haven't seen anybody not get good care."

What I find particularly telling is the ...thousands who became physically or mentally ill. I wonder how many of those are from the initial effects of DU sickness?

[diamond14]

10. bush* ....creating a whole new generation of homeless Veterams

mentally ill from the horrors of war, denied care by the VA....tormented from KILLING innocents and the smell of burning flesh, the horrors of napalm, the shock-and-awe....this group of Veterans are rarely noticed, unless they go 'postal' or 'snipe' around the Metro DC Area, or blow up Federal Buildings like Gulf War I Veteran Tim McVeigh....

[SideshowScott]

11. The Wonded have been totaly ingored by the press..Another job they DONT do

As far as the press go there are no wounded..Ya know i can deal with a GOP adminstration even though ill never be one and ill fight like hell to make sure they will never be in power..But its a free country..What i cant deal with are the values of the american tresures like the Free Press and The right to vote have been turned into a JOKE to the world..
The Press is NOT doing its job AT ALL..There people who are in pain, wonded for life and have given up MUCH for america right or wrong that the Press is acting like they dont exist. And trying to sweep or injured troops under the rug..Why hanst Bush gone to a VA hostpital? Oh yeah thats right hes trying to screw em!
Im So Fukking ashamed of the american " Press"

[Newsjock]

12. WP is not distributing this story on their wire service tonight

This means newspapers that normally reprint Post stories won't have this one tomorrow. The advisory on our wire says the story will be "moving later."

This rather blows for us, because this means the Post will have the story all to themselves tomorrow.