How come the average American doesn't care about the dead troops in Iraq?

Question

Source: Detroit news. 11 American troops dead on 7th Feb 07 but all the news is about Anna Nicole Smith.

Answer 1

It is a sad testament to the American people that they, and the media they pay for indirectly, gives so much attention to a woman who contributed so little to society, and yet the amount attention devoted to our men and women who are shedding their blood unnecessarily, is now relegated to a footnote in the daily news.

I was disgusted by how preoccupied our major “news” outlets are in giving so much attention to the death of a woman who was known more for how much she conned a feeble old wealthy man, who was in the throes of death, out of his sizable fortune, than any positive contribution she made to society. It’s lamentable that the limelight is focused on, I am sorry to say it, a very popular floozy, and yet our bravest, strongest, and most self-sacrificial are marginalized as a statistic.

I wish I could disagree with you, Erudite, and say that the American people don’t have such callous disregard for public servants, and that they are not really that superficial that they would give a dead person, whose only job was to look attractive, more worth than men and women who intended to sacrifice to defend this country (though our leaders haven’t allowed them to function in this capacity in the past fifty or so years). I wish I could find some explanation, some excuse for why the American people are behaving so unbecoming of the great people we profess to be. I wish I could chalk it up to a sensationalistic media, but our media would not be fixated on something, unless the public didn’t provide a demand for it. The media, and what it points its cameras to is merely a reflection of our collective desires.

The famous Indian author and political activist, Arundhati Roy, stated once that “yours is not a great nation (meaning the United States), but you can still be a great people”. I used to agree with the latter half of that statement. After today, and the American population’s ease of being captivated by the salacious instead of the substantive, I am beginning to doubt her statement entirely.

Answer 2

Although I am not an American (I'm a Brit, and we have folks there too) I can see where you're coming from and share your concern. The trouble is with a professional army (such as we both have, to different extents) there will always be a sense of distance between 'them' and 'us'. I don't think it's because people don't care; though I agree they perhaps don't stop and think. They don't do that because, unlike in the World Wars, they're not involved. Having been on active service myself I know how much I thought of home, of the values and beliefs I was fighting for, of how much I cared for my comrades, but also for freedom and (in my case) the British way of lofe, and I know how essential those things were in keeping us going. But, as you hint, unless they have family or friends in action, most people don't think like that. In different times how often does the man or woman in the street think about all the police officers who are killed or maimed across the nation. We might express some concern if it's on our doorstep but, by the people as a whole, the toll there goes less marked than the dreadful one in Iraq (though even the media seem to have given up keeping that count in front of us, at least over here). To try and answer your question, my opinion is that it really goes deeper than not caring - that's a symptom, not the cause - at the heart of what you describe is a selfishness that our cultures have helped create. If they stop and think about it, or are challenged by someone like you or I, people do have a capacity to care, but, left alone, they're generally too concerned with themselves to see beyond their own noses - and society has let that happen. We've become too short-sighted for our own good.

Answer 3

Don't assume that American Citizens don't care about the dead troops in Iraq. The news and media is controlled by other than citizens and, in fact, you should check to see who owns your networks -- some are foreign owned. Our government demands that the media play down the numbers because people are already against the war in Iraq and drawing attention to it only adds to their disillusionment and their desire to get out.

Personally I didn't even know Anna Nicole Smith died. I guess I'll have to look it up to see why or how. I do know how many people died in Iraq and I know what's going on in my town. I also know that the majority of the US citizens are totally fed up with their government and while that might not be well-publicized in the news, it is being played out in the streets and through boycotts and actions.

Answer 4

The Average American DOES care. That's a rediculous question. Just because the media focuses on sensationalism stories doesn't mean that the average American cares more about Anna Nicole Smith than dead soldiers in Iraq.

Answer 5

To them they are not people, just numbers.

Almost all have never been in a war!

Many think we should use our military for corporate interest!

They don't see the body bags or the sight of what IED's do to a person who is in the military!

Republicans try and keep it off the front page as then America would hear daily how many of our soldiers died that day, and they die almost every single day(we have had 32 killed in 8 days this month alone)! They often use non-issues, or those which have been going on for 200 years and has never been addressed, like illegals as issues! They don't want to do anything about that either. They just had 12 years and did squat!

Millionaires made off of money earmarked for Iraq. Currently 1 for every 25 brought home in body bags!

Answer 6

I care as much about the dead troops as I do the dead citizens on 9/11. Which explains the dead troops.

Answer 7

Do not include me in this because i am an air force mom whose son is going to IRAQ next month!!! You need to be careful of how you post the question because it can be taken the wrong way !! I think you mean why is all the focus on anna & not the troops if so i agree with you if it is meant that we do not care about our soldiers than i have a problem with it !!!

Answer 8

78,000 troops died in Vietnam and the public was oblivious then too. The problem is they don't relate. Troops to most Americans are for the 4th of July parades, and for war movies.

This joke may help explain the inability to relate it in simple terms.

George Bush and on Rumsfeld sitting in the Pentagon Cafeteria and W says to Dr, "We attack tonight and we will kill 1,000,000 Iranians and one blond", A guy sitting at the next table asks, "Why are you killing a blond?" W looks at Rumsfeld as says, "See I told you that nobody cares about 1,000,000 Iranians!"

Answer 9

OK, instead of bickering, let's actually do the math....

current number of troops in Iraq:
~130,000.

Total number of US troop deaths since march 21, 2003:
2,321

This gives an average death rate of:
3.95 deaths per 1,000 troops per year.

About 79% of these where a direct result of "enemy action." This compares with, for example, the death rate for US troops in WWII of about 26 per 1000. But the rate of serious injuries is:
29.63 per 1,000 troops per year,

or about 7 times higher. So soldiers in Iraq these days are not so much risking life as they are limb. The fact that the number of deaths is so low in comparison, is probably due not to advanced technology or tactics, but the fact that nearly all US troops are provided with a tourniquet, and training on how to use it.

How does this compare with the general US population? according to the "CIA world factbook" , the average total death rate in 2006 was:
8.26 per 1,000 persons,

more than twice as much as the mortality of US soldiers in Iraq.

Now, I don't really know how valid of a comparison this is, I'm just saying what I've read.

Answer 10

I think that they care, but its hard to really relate to the death of someone you've never even heard of. I'll grant you the Anna Nicole thing shouldn't be "breaking news," but people think they know who she is. They've seen her picture. They've heard about things she's done. When a soldier dies, we just hear that the death total has gone up and that another person "died serving their country and the noble interests of freedom." We rarely even see their picture.