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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Sladek who wrote (460)	2/5/2004 7:23:34 AM
From: John Sladek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 173976

Pentagon hiding reality of toll from war in Iraq Palm Beach Post Editorial Sunday, February 1, 2004 Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., a Vietnam veteran and senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tried asking Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about U.S. troops who have been wounded in Iraq. He wanted to know the number of battlefield casualties, how the Pentagon was defining "wounded in action," the procedure for releasing information on wounded and how many Americans had received the Purple Heart. Sen. Hagel told National Public Radio that it took six weeks to get a response. A letter from the Pentagon said: "At this time, we were unfortunately lacking in information, and we didn't have the information that you requested." Sen. Hagel found the non-answers "astounding" and criticized a widening credibility gap between the government and the American people over a complete accounting of the war's toll. The nation reached a sad milestone this month with the 500th death in Iraq. But the numbers of wounded continue to be lost beneath the headlines, as does the severity of the wounds. If Sen. Hagel can't get answers, what chance does the public have? Military records suggest that about 9,000 U.S. troops have been evacuated from Iraq for a wide spectrum of reasons, including combat wounds, accident injuries, psychological problems, infections and illness. At least 21 have committed suicide. About 3,000 U.S. soldiers are counted among the group wounded in battle or injured in accidents since the invasion. The ratio of wounded to dead -- about 6-to-1 -- is the encouraging news. In the Korean War, for example, it was 3-to-1, and in the Civil War 2-to-1. The improvement comes from the protective body armor modern soldiers wear, the efforts of field commanders to minimize casualties and great advances in battlefield hospital care. Soldiers who would have bled to death in Korea routinely are saved. The discouraging news is that a higher percentage of those surviving wounds will live out their days with severe disfigurements or disabilities. The nature of warfare in Iraq -- especially vehicle bombings and guerrilla attacks -- have produced large numbers of horrific burns and amputations that cannot be repaired. Unseen damage such as post-traumatic stress disorder or toxic poisoning also can leave lifetime scars. The Pentagon's numbers that show high percentages of survivors do not capture the scope of the losses. The word wounded too often passes for undamaged. The government still fails to deal with all the casualties of past wars. Vietnam vets await treatment for Agent Orange poisoning, and veterans of the Gulf War complain of neurological problems that the Pentagon won't acknowledge. The Department of Veterans Affairs has 2.7 million clients and a budget that doesn't keep up with the demand for disability benefits, medical care and pensions. President Bush says it's worth spending close to $1 trillion to send a man to Mars at a time when many vets can't make it into a doctor's waiting room. Hundreds of veterans are coming home from Iraq with wounds that will require long rehabilitation and expensive treatment. It will be years before the full cost is counted. The numbers Americans are able to get do not reflect the war's toll in human suffering. The real numbers are something that Americans deserve to know. palmbeachpost.com