Tallying up the costs of war

By Al Huebner

posted March 17, 2006

Cindy Sheehan is right in demanding that Pres. George Bush give her a satisfactory explanation of why her son, and many other sons, were sent to Iraq.

But the number of U.S. victims as a result of the war is much greater than those who died, and those who grieve for the dead.

Although weapons have become more deadly, improvements in protective armor and advances in medical response on the battlefield have decreased their lethality. Ironically, this combination of success in preventing deaths and a combat zone permeated with incredibly destructive weaponry means a greatly increased number of the severely wounded, including amputees, and those blinded and brain damaged. Statistically, eight soldiers are wounded for every one killed, about double the rate in Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War, according to recent studies. The percentage of soldiers who have undergone amputation is twice that of our past military conflicts; nearly a quarter of all the wounded suffer from traumatic head injuries, also at a far higher rate than in other recent wars.

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