Saturday, August 9, 2008

A Real Eye Opener.....

Military Losses, 1980 thru 2007

Whatever your politics, however you lean, and however you feel about the
current administration, this report should open some eyes.
As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider the
following statistics: The annual fatalities of military members while
actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2006 - by any cause.
1980 .......... 2,392 (Carter Year)
1981 .......... 2,380 (Reagan Year)
1984 .......... 1,999 (Reagan Year)
1988 .......... 1,819 (Reagan Year)
1989 ........... 1,636 (George H W Year)
1990 .......... 1,508 (George H W Year)
1991 .......... 1,787 (George H W Year)
1992 .......... 1,293 (George H W Year)
1993 .......... 1,213 ( Clinton Year)
1994 ......... 1,075 ( Clinton Year)
1995 .......... 2,465 ( Clinton Year)
1996 .......... 2,318 ( Clinton Year)
1997 .......... 817 ( Clinton Year)
1998 ......... 2,252 ( Clinton Year)
1999 .......... 1,984 ( Clinton Year)
2000 ...........1,983 ( Clinton Year)
2001 ............. 890 (George W Year)
2002 ........... 1,007 (George W Year)
2003 ......... 1,410 (George W Year)
2004 .......... 1,887 (George W Year)
2005 ............. 919 (George W Year)
2006.............. 920 (George W Year)
2007............. 899 ( George W Year )

Clinton years (1993-2000): 14,107 deaths
George W years (2001-2007): 7,932 deaths

If you are surprised when you look at these figures, so was I. These figures
mean that the loss from the two latest conflicts in the Middle East are LESS
than the loss of military personnel during Bill Clinton 's presidency; when
America wasn't even involved in a war! (Unless you include Bosnia or the
disgrace of Mogadishu , Somalia when Clinton failed to respond to terrorists.
Remember 'Blackhawk Down'?)

And, I was even more shocked when I read that in 1980, during the reign of
President (Nobel Peace Prize winner) Jimmy Carter , there were 2,392 US
military fatalities! From what? How?

I think that these figures indicate that many members of our Media and our
politicians will pick and choose the information on which they report. Of
course we all know that they present only those 'facts' which support their
agenda-driven reporting. But why do so many of them march in lock-step to
twist the truth? Where do so many of them get their agenda? Obviously there
is one shared agenda. Could it be from the most powerful Democratic family
of the decade?

Do you want further proof? Consider the latest census of Americans. It shows
the following FACTS about the distribution of American citizens, by race:

European descent .......................69.12%
Hispanic......................................12.5%
Black .................... .....................12.3%
Asian........................................... 3.7%
Native American............................1.0%
Other............................................2.6%

Many media lead us to feel the military death ratio is off balanced compared
to the distribution by race in America .. Here are the fatalities by RACE
over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom. Do the comparison yourself.

European descent (white) .........74.31%
Hispanic...................................10.74%
Black ........................................9.67%
Asian....................................... 1.81%
Native American....................... 1.09%
Other....................................... 0.33%

I was surprised again. Our mainstream media continues to spin these figures
(for political gain). Nothing more. It's all about politics.

I hope that during the time between now and November, intelligent Americans
can decipher:
the facts from the spin,
the spinners from the leaders,
those who seek even more power from those that seek justice,
and the dividers from the uniters.

Over the next months let's be good listeners and see and hear who tries to
divide our nation; and who wants to unite our nation. Who wants to control
how our money is spent and who wants our money spent the way we would spend
it. Who seeks
power and who seeks justice? Who spins the facts and who is genuine.

(These statistics are published by Congressional Research Service, and they
may be confirmed by anyone at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf ;

'History does not entrust the care of freedom to the weak or timid.' -
Dwight D. Eisenhower

2 comments:

Teresa said...

Keith and I are always discussing this. It really bothers me how bad they make this campaign sound. When Clinton was president, I remember it being alot worse. I'm just not thrilled about a couple of the campaigns that have been going on that make it look like Bush is doing such a bad job. I'm not voting for anyone who merely says they're going to change stuff. Be more specific please...

Teresa said...

Keith wanted me to add that "I was [mad] at the beginning of the campaigns when one would not say the pledge of allegiance. That decided for me"