US Military survival rate in Iraq is 99%?

Question

With those kind of odds I wouldn't be complaining unless I was a gutless coward!

Answer 1

Actually it is 99.7%

In 2006 the leading killer of US soldiers was car accidents.

Another piece of trivia: a person is more likely to survive four years in the US Army than four years in a US college. (One of the benefits of a drug-free environment.)

Answer 2

I wouldn't complain either unless I was in that 1%, but then I would not be able to.

Seriously, the death toll is virtually non-existent considering the length of time spent there. We lost more troops in one battle during WW2 than this entire war. People need to realize that the price of their freedoms are (and will always be) paid for with the blood of the few brave individuals willing to put their lives on the line while asking for nothing in return.

Answer 3

Matt is right, but here is the argument by those who don't want to be over there....

BUTBUTBUT we might have lost more people there but we are having more wounded come back then then because they died and ......

No that is not the case. In four years of World War II, or even in the war in Viet-Nam we lost more to dead and wounded then there are soldiers who are over in Iraq, yes some of it could be that we are highly trained volunteer force versus a drafted, minimally trained force who was used to boost numbers because back then pure numbers usually won some battles. I mean look at the Former Soviet Union, they just grounded Germany to a halt because although the Soviet Union was under trained to the HIGHLY trained Germans, they had so many more men, who could just clog up the wheels of the German war horse.

One thing that you have to remember is with a volunteer force, many of them have families and are *usually* on average older than those who are drafted and so they don't want to leave family and friends to go fight. With the type of fighting that is occurring over there could be closely related to the fighting that occurred in Viet-Nam with regards to the type of enemy, back then as now you don't know who your enemy is, and with the Opposition using children and women it is hard, because soldiers are trained to go against the enemy, not someone who might resemble mothers and children. You have major cases of PTSD and trouble reintegrating into society as with Viet-Nam.

Answer 4

Sporty ... I think the percentage is actually better than 99%, isn't it? It's probably better than the figure for some U.S. cities, actually. I don't mean that to sound sarcastic; I'm a red-blooded American veteran, myself, and I SURE AS HELL don't support that Fonda woman and her ilk. I say it to further illustrate that I support your point.

Answer 5

Yes, I wonder why the press never looks at it like this.

Answer 6

In which case, why not enlist, champ?