Why do so many people who have died in Iraq come from poor areas?

Question

Many of the hometowns of the war dead aren't just small, they're poor. The CNN News analysis found that nearly 75% of those killed in Iraq came from towns where the per capita income was below the national average. More than half came from towns where the percentage of people living in poverty topped the national average. No rich people from expensive areas joined the military.

Isaid "Why do so many come from poor areas"...I didn't say "ALL" come from poor areas.

Answer 1

Then you have just had an example of CNN putting a misleading spin on the news. (See why the rest of us have no confidence in them?)

"Recruits from poorer families are actually underrepresented in the military"

Look at the following links to see the true demographics of where people in the military come from:

Answer 2

Be careful about making inferences from those figures. Just because someone is from a "poor" area doesn't mean they are poor. I know two guys that died and they could be said to be from a poor area in Mississippi but neither were from poor families. Statistics can be great when properly used but can be horrible when someone, like some of the dunderheads in the news media, try to make them say things they don't say.

Answer 3

People in poor areas have few options in life. The military is a great escape and a way to go to college for free. They are desperate so they join the military. The military is a guaranteed job, where as all the factories are closing down in small, poor, areas. They have no other choices sometimes.

Answer 4

It's been that way from the time Saddam took power at least. Shia are the majority but Saddam's ba'ath party were the sunni minority. Sunnis do not like giving up that power base. Sunnis kept the minority shias down at the bottom. If mass murder, torture, rape works, Saddam's thugs used that. That's who needed and wasn't getting access to food & medical care while the fatcats did fine. That's why the shia bloc were so hopeful that the west, the US, would help them overthrow Saddam for so long.

Answer 5

Well we come from areas wear making a living is hard. Those that are rich can go to college most of us can't afford that. We see opportunity in the military that we could not get working else wear at a minimum wage job that doesn't provide health care, dental and housing. Take a guess

Answer 6

Many people that cannot afford higher education join the service as a vehical. There is also the economy that has become so poor for the poor over the last 6 years. The rich do not need these things because their College is paid for, the jobs are there for them and so most do not join the service.

Answer 7

Thats because many people who aren't quite so well off look to the military for an income. This makes sense. Since most of the people in the military have "lesser incomes", then most of the people dying will also be.

Answer 8

That is what you get with an all volunteer military. The poor need jobs. The fat cats don't or their parents have sent them to college thus they can get good jobs. It is also so in a conscripted military. The fat cats can buy their way out. The poor cannot.
The poor are the cannon fodder. pure and simple.

Answer 9

sorry if the military is the CHOICE of many Americans in poor or unprivileged homes. At least they made the choice for themselves and were not drafted in.

Answer 10

first off, I would never believe anything CNN says..
i think the military is a combo if rich and poor alike