16,723

by annatopia, Thu Apr 07, 2005 at 09:06:17 AM EDT

From the diaries--Chris

good god.  so i was on my way to bed after my horrendous overnight shift when i decided to scan a few blogs.  gotta get the eyes nice and tired before i try falling asleep in daylight you know.

anyway... i read a post over at lefterer.com regarding medical evacuations from iraq that was truly shocking.

I wanted to just share a little website I stumbled upon the other day, thanks to a poster at Metafilter: The Army Medicine Page. I could just link to it, but lets have a look at the facts right here: 16,723. Keep that number foremost in your mind, because this is only a breakdown:

Medical Evacuations in Operation Iraqi Freedom

March 19, 2003, through January 31, 2005
All numbers represent only Army soldiers evacuated to Army medical treatment facilities.
These numbers are updated monthly.

Total number of evacuations to Army facilities: 16,723
      Wounded in action (WIA): 2,201
      Non-battle injuries (NBI): 4,998
      Disease: 9,524
Top 3 reasons for Wounded in Action evacuation:

      Injury Type*     Total No. to Date     % of Total WIA Evacs to Date     % of Total Evacs to Date
      Explosion**     1,521     69.1%     9.0%
      Gunshot     351     15.9%     2.0%
      Burns     36     1.6%     .02%
Top 3 reasons for Non-Battle Injury evacuations:

      Injury Type*     Total No. to Date     % of Total NBI Evacs to Date     % of Total Evacs to Date
      Orthopedic     3,096     61.9%     18.5%
      Surgical     1,890     37.8%     11.3%
      Dental     12     0.02%     <.01%

Top 3 reasons for Disease evacuations:
      Injury Type*     Total No. to Date     % of Total Disease Evacs to Date     % of Total Evacs to Date
      Medical     4,246     44.6%     25.4%
      Surgical     4,230     44.4%     25.3%
      Psychiatric     1,009     10.6%     6.0%
.
**Includes both Shrapnel and Blast

Numbers of amputees

These numbers represent persons treated in Army hospitals. They represent numbers of persons sustaining the loss of hands, feet, arms and/or legs; they do not include the loss of fingers and/or toes.

  • 160 Army soldiers, 24 of whom are multiple amputees
  • 45 Marines, 6 of whom are multiple amputees
  • 4 Navy sailors, 0 of whom are multiple amputees
  • 2 Air Force amputees, 1 of whom is a multiple amputee

Total of 211 service member amputees treated in Army hospitals

So. Let's review the facts: There's lots of interesting stuff here, like the 1009 psychiatric evacs and 12 guys with toothaches, but let's cut to the chase, shall we? 16,723.

SIXTEEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY THREE. I think that's enough review for now.

good god.

16,723.

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35 Comments

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yep
I had a friend visiting  a small town in Germany and remarked on the steady stream of aircraft going over... the person replied that they were near a US military base and the planes were coming in with the wounded soldiers...

This was months ago, I had never heard about this in the news but they said somedays it got up to one hundred planes a day.

by Parker 2005-04-07 07:10AM | 0 recs
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christ
honestly, i was floored by this.  i had no idea that our evac rate was so high.

what is superbly troubling is the number of evacs for "disease".  sounds like halliburton's doing a "fabulous" job of providing clean water for our troops, eh?

by annatopia 2005-04-07 07:12AM | 0 recs
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Re: christ
In the short time the program has been in place, at least 10,763 young men aged 14-16 have joined the pre-enlistment program.
by Parker 2005-04-07 01:22PM | 0 recs
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O/T to Parker
They killed that other page before I could respond to you about that story:

It's both outrageous and believable, which is why I say it's a great prank. I mean, I might feel differently if I'd found it and posted it here, but we can't be blamed for being taken in . . . heck, even the Reep apologists came out to defend the idea!

The print version would most certainly have been easier to spot as a gag, coming out in the 3/31 edition. It's only now, a week later, that we've let down our guard and a story like this . . .

Damn, I'm still laughing. That was great. F@ckin' Grrrrrreat.

by catastrophile 2005-04-07 03:21PM | 0 recs
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Re: O/T to Parker
It's a pretty elaborate hoax. I got the number for the magazine from information. Something is there and Fleur is the type of commercial area where an alternative magazine might print.

I didn't follow the Gannon/Guckert story very close, but I do recall rumors of a connection to Johnny Gosch, which is a real disappearance and the magazine has this quote:

Andy Stephenson, a blogger from Seattle familiar with the details of the Johnny Gosch case and the child sex rings in Nebraska detailed in the Book, "The Franklin Cover-Up," began, with a group of other writers and investigators, to ponder the claim. They looked at markings on Gannon's body and compared them to those reported on Johnny Gosch. They considered the lack of personal information about Gannon's early years. They considered that Johnny was alleged to have been used as a gay prostitute for blackmail purposes. They considered that the high-powered people alleged to have kidnapped and brainwashed children as part of the government's Monarch Project and MK-Ultra program, including Johnny, did so to use them in a variety of ways to advance their own agendas. And they contacted Noreen Gosch and discussed the idea with her - the first she'd heard of the theory - and they, too, came to the conclusion that Jeff Gannon is none other than Johnny Gosch.

Pretty bizarre, but a pretty cruel hoax on Noreen Gosch if this story is fake. Anybody know enough about the GG story to comment?

I also don't know enough about Hunter Thompson to comment on the statements about him in this article.

It's a strange little magazine, but it is possible that something like this would be noticed in Des Moines before it would in larger metropolitan areas. Curious to say the least, either way you look at it, gag or just conspiracy nuts.

Here's the link to the website in the Johnny Gosch story. They could be kooks who believe what they wrote, and it could also be a true story, and it could be a hoax by some very strange people.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 04:38PM | 0 recs
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Re: O/T to Parker
Check out this link to the Johnny Gosch story that is dated April 6th.

I seem to recall that some people thought Noreen Gosch was trying to profit from her son's disappearance. Definitely a peculiar group of folks either way.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 04:40PM | 0 recs
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Re: O/T to Parker
I got an email from Pointblank:

Jon Gaskell jon@pointblank-dm.com

It was an April Fool's prank. Those are some pretty strange people.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 05:09PM | 0 recs
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Parker talked to them.
That's why the Pre-Enlistment story got yanked. Or do you mean the Gosch story is a prank as well?
by catastrophile 2005-04-07 05:42PM | 0 recs
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Wow.
I hadn't heard any of that re: Jimmy Guck, but some of the researchers into the Kennedy assassinations are quite convinced that there are groups out there like that, people in or near government who use sex and blackmail to manipulate others.

I don't know -- although it seems like the most sensible explanation I've heard for Jimmy Guck.

by catastrophile 2005-04-07 05:35PM | 0 recs
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How about a counter hoax?
Check out the email I have going with the Pointblank dude. He's trying to convince me the Johnny Gosch story was genuine. I'm going to be very difficult to persuade:

Right. Nice try, but the Boy Soldier story was more believable. I am curious about the Rense radio site. Is that a haven for former Art Bell fans? Nice picture of Condi.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Gaskell [mailto:jon@pointblank-dm.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 6:34 PM
To: Boatwright, Gary - GPM
Subject: Re: Pointblank Web Contact re: Boy Soldiers

Not in the least, no. We do an April Fool's edition each year. The Gosch
story was done -- kind of -- by the DSM Register the same day. The story
itself is wild which is why we decided to tell a story about the story. Does
that make sense?

Contact me any time. -Jon Gaskell

On 4/7/05 8:08 PM, "Boatwright, Gary - GPM" <Gary.Boatwright@greenpoint.com>
wrote:

> Was the Johnny Gosch and Rense radio story a hoax too?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon Gaskell [mailto:jon@pointblank-dm.com]
> Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 6:00 PM
> To: Boatwright, Gary - GPM
> Subject: Re: Pointblank Web Contact re: Boy Soldiers
>
>
> April Fool's
>
>
> On 4/7/05 6:33 PM, "Boatwright, Gary - GPM" <Gary.Boatwright@greenpoint.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Was your cover story on the March 31st issue an April Fool's day spoof? Do
>> you have any way of verifying the story?
>

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 05:38PM | 0 recs
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That story's probably real,
since it's entirely speculation and hearsay. The recruitment thing was, y'know, presented as fact.

Anyway.

by catastrophile 2005-04-07 05:58PM | 0 recs
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Of course it is
I used to live in Des Moines when Johnny was kidnapped. That's how I knew that Fleur was a commercial strip. It's the main drag to the airport and the mall on Army Post Road.

This bozo will never convince me it's a real story though. Have you clicked on the link to the radio station? The real story is far more bizarre than their Soldier Boy hoax.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 07:31PM | 0 recs
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You mean Rense.com?
That's one screwball site, but a lot of people seem to like their content, because it panders to paranoids and conspiracy theorists. That's why I tend to think the story is genuine -- goofy, for sure, but not just made up. It'd be sort of like doing an article on how people think the moon landings were faked.
by catastrophile 2005-04-08 10:35AM | 0 recs
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Last one tonight
I can't wait to see what I have waiting for me tomorrow morning:

Boy, you sure are persistent. Well, I can finally get outta here. I'll let everyone know that the whole issue was a hoax. Thanks for the grins.

I really am curious about that Rense radio site. What's the story with those wackos?

-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Gaskell [mailto:jon@pointblank-dm.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 6:41 PM
To: Boatwright, Gary - GPM
Subject: Re: Pointblank Web Contact re: Boy Soldiers

It is no hoax. These people are seriously into the case. They follow down
every lead. Extreme. Noreen is as crazy as anyone who has no idea what ever
happened to their child would be. It's sad. But she loves the publicity.
Still, I think she wants what everyone wants -- to know, not money. Just to
know.

On 4/7/05 8:20 PM, "Boatwright, Gary - GPM" <Gary.Boatwright@greenpoint.com>
wrote:

> I gotta give you credit for the way you wove Hunter Thompson and Johnny
> Gosch in to the Gannon/Guckert story. Is Rense radio a hoax or some kind of
> internet haven for former Art Bell fans that you just capitalized on?

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 05:58PM | 0 recs
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I yanked it
not Chris or Jerome

I didn't want it on the front page.

I think the crediblity of blogs are important that is why I called the magazine directly. It is important to remember that the name of this blog is My Due Diligence for a reason.

But... although it was a well written prank... it was all too believeable because it could really happen and no one would put it past this administration to go so low.

by Parker 2005-04-07 08:56PM | 0 recs
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Disease?
I don't understand the disease number. Are these people who showed up at the hospital because they had the flu? Or were they people who suffered infections after battlefield injuries?  What are they? Because they comprise the largest number of evacuations and they might mean something more - or less - serious than it first appears.
by elrod 2005-04-07 10:00AM | 0 recs
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Re: Disease?
It's hard to tell. There are also some nasty germs or fungi in Iraq that cause wicked facial blisters. I believe these statistics are also used to mask actual fatalities. A death in a hospital or in transit is not counted as a battlefield fatality.
by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 10:39AM | 0 recs
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Could there be more?
They lied about WMD's and so many other things, why wouldn't the administration lie about medical evacuations?  I believe that the medical evacuations from Iraq are much higher.  The medical flights are at night to conceal the information from the media, the troops, and the public.  Here are some additional figures on injured troops:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040330-051545-6818r
(This is from 2004!)
 Medical evacuations in Iraq war hit 18,000

By Mark Benjamin
United Press International
Published 3/31/2004 3:04 PM

WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- In the first year of war in Iraq, the military has made 18,004 medical evacuations during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Pentagon's top health official told Congress Tuesday.

The new data, through March 13, is nearly two-thirds higher than the 11,200 evacuations through Feb. 5 cited just last month to Congress by the same official, William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

In both cases, Winkenwerder described the evacuations as "total evacuations out of theater," and he said both times that the majority of evacuations represented routine medical treatment and not life-threatening injuries.

"As of March 13, 2004, data from the Transportation Command shows 18,004 total evacuations out of theater," Winkenwerder said Tuesday.

"As of February 5, 2004, data from the Transportation Command shows 11,200 total evacuations out of theater," he told a separate House panel Feb. 25.

A spokesman for Winkenwerder, James Turner, said the latest figure represents multiple evacuations for single patients -- including moving some soldiers back into theater. He said the 18,004 evacuations was for 11,700 patients.

and....
http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript325_full_print.html
NOW with Bill Moyers, Transcript, June 18, 2004

1/3 way down in the transcript:

BENJAMIN: I was shocked when I called the Pentagon and said 'what is the number of casualties from operation Iraqi Freedom?' And they said to me, 'We at the Pentagon do not have that number. You can call the individual services and see what they say their casualties are. But we don't know.'

MITCHELL: The Pentagon also told us to call the individual services: together, they report more than 11,000 sick and injured in Iraq, in addition to the more than 5,000 wounded in action.

That's about 5 percent of the roughly 300,000 soldiers who have served there, about one of every 20 soldiers.

Veterans' advocate Steve Robinson says it shouldn't be so hard to get the true numbers and he thinks the Pentagon is making it difficult for a simple reason.

ROBINSON: They believe that by putting this information out, it's somehow going to affect public opinion.

MITCHELL: He says it's all part of a larger pattern to keep unpleasant news and images of the war out of the public eye.

Take for example what's happened at Dover Air Force Base. Reporters and photographers have been prevented from covering the return there of flag-draped coffins arriving back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

It took a Freedom of Information Act request to get these photos released.

Robinson says it's that same kind of stonewalling that's happening with the casualty count.

If our government won't let us see the coffins of the dead, why would they tell us the numbers of wounded and sick.

by Marie Smith 2005-04-07 10:38AM | 0 recs
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US military recruiting children

Check it out over at Seeing the Forest

In an effort to increase its ranks for coming wars, the U.S.
military is recruiting--and paying--children as young as 14 years old
for future combat duty. It's called a "pre-enlistment" program.

Excerpted from "Pointblank", one of Des Moines's alternative newspapers. From a recent column written by Tim Schmitt.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 10:41AM | 0 recs
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Re: US military recruiting children
This needs to be in a diary in it's own. I am going to cross post it.
by Parker 2005-04-07 10:48AM | 0 recs
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Re: US military recruiting children
Take it away friend. I won't have time to post anything until after work.

Peace out

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 11:14AM | 0 recs
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Re: US military recruiting children
I just sent a fax inquiry to Tim Schmitt at the fax number for Pointblank magazine in Des Moines. On their web site it was in the March 31st issue.

I also emailed John Carter at Intel-dump.com.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 03:04PM | 0 recs
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Re: US military recruiting children
The article mentions Lincoln High School, which is on the south side of Des Moines. Carla Bloomer was not listed in Des Moines. I found an article at Common Dreams that discusses recruiters lying back in December.

If this is a hoax, it's a darn believable one.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 03:20PM | 0 recs
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Re: US military recruiting children
This reminds me of the end of World War II, when Nazi Germany started handing out rifles to 13 and 14 year olds to stop the Allies.  How can our government hold a child to a contract?  It would only be legal with the approval of a parent and I can't believe any sane parent would approve of this.  This is really disgusting.  

 I think that we need to start thinking about war protests that were the size of the ones at the end of the Viet Nam war because George W. Bush won't stop until he gets your kid.  Bush has NEVER put anything on the line for anyone but himself.  He has made no sacrifices to get where he is today and he is willing to sacrifice your son, your daughter, your brother, your sister, your cousin, and your friend.  We must stop this war!

by Marie Smith 2005-04-07 10:56AM | 0 recs
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Re: US military recruiting children
well, for one, the military discriminates against gays and lesbians, which doesn't jibe with the anti-discrimination statutes in a lot of school charters.
by johnny longtorso 2005-04-07 03:15PM | 0 recs
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Check out the New Face of Protest
A recent article from the Nation, The New Face of Protest?

On a Sunday afternoon in February a young man made a plea to a room full of 400 antiwar activists who had gathered in St. Louis for three days of strategizing on how to end the war in Iraq. "I'm probably the most experienced activist in my organization and I've been an activist for one year," 25-year-old Michael Hoffman said, "so we need your help with logistics." In return, he promised that his group would serve as a shield. "When there are massive protests, we will be out front. We will say that you are doing everything you can to support the troops by demanding that this war is ended, and ended now, so that the troops are brought home and cared for when they return."
by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 10:46AM | 0 recs
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Detailed casualty list
From Global Security

by Gary Boatwright 2005-04-07 11:12AM | 0 recs
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Re: Detailed casualty list
Thanks.  I hadn't found that page.  It's helpful.
by liberal elite 2005-04-07 01:42PM | 0 recs
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doa
There's another statistic that has bearing upon the "bad publicity" angle:  the number of casualties flown out of Iraq who do not survive the trip to Germany.

They are pronounced doa in Germany, but not counted as "battlefield deaths" in Iraq.

I do not have the number, nor do I even know if this information is reliable.  But I will try to check on it.

My source tells me this number is larger than the 1,56_ fatalities quoted by the government and the corporate media.

by liberal elite 2005-04-07 01:38PM | 0 recs
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KIA in Iraq Stat Misleading?
If the KIA in Iraq stat is misleading then that is a potentially scandalous story which could get very big very quickly.

The country is in no mood to find out that President Bush has been misleading them on the true number of American troops killed in Iraq. That would devalue the contributions of those dead soldiers by not giving them or the battles they died in the proper respect. That it would have been done to politically help President Bush and the Republican Party adds further insult.

This is disgusting if true. But from your comment I see you are not sure of the truth of the report. I'd also like to be cautious, especially considering the fate of a recent unlucky thread. Hopefully someone can clear up whether the numbers we see on battlefield deaths in Iraq are truthful.

by Curt Matlock 2005-04-07 03:42PM | 0 recs
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I've heard this for a year,
that you're not counted as an Iraq combat casualty unless you die in Iraq, but I've never been able to find verification of it on the 'Net.

The argument many make is this: Have you heard a single report of a soldier dying of his injuries in Germany, or dying in a cargo plane on the way? (I haven't, but I can't say I've made a point of looking.)

If there have been no such reports, it must mean that either a) military medics are so good that they never lose a patient, or b) that such deaths aren't being reported.

Hard to tell.

by catastrophile 2005-04-07 06:30PM | 0 recs
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Re: I've heard this for a year,
definitely not "a" based on the info i posted.  did you see the surgical evacuations number?
by annatopia 2005-04-07 07:58PM | 0 recs
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chris
thanks for front-paging this. more people need to know the true extent of the casualties.
by annatopia 2005-04-07 04:21PM | 0 recs
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This month's numbers are in: 17,184
Hey, I'm thrilled y'all found our little website. Wish I could take more credit for what was basically a copy/paste job.

This month's revised numbers are in from the Army, too.
http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/news/medevacstats/200502/oif.htm

by Devils Rancher 2005-04-10 06:39PM | 0 recs
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I am very interested in this
I am very interested in this
尖锐湿疣 性病 尖锐湿疣 咪喹莫特 明欣利迪 疣迪 尖锐湿疣 咪喹莫特 咪喹莫特 疣迪 明欣利迪 疣迪 艾达乐 咪喹莫特 尖锐湿疣 尖锐湿疣 尖锐湿疣 尖锐湿疣
by hpvv 2005-12-19 10:16PM | 0 recs

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