grinder

Estimates of American wounded range from 7,000 - 10,000. No official
figures are available. Planes land at a German Airport at night and no
photos or reporters are allowed near the aircraft as the wounded are off
loaded. No reporters are allowed in the hospital. The foreign press says
Doctors and medical staff are sickened by the amount of American wounded and
the extent of their injuries. Yet the American propaganda media machine
doesn't think this is a worthy story.

dana dare

I'm ignorant on the history here. How does this lack of info compare to
what was available during previous conflicts? Do you know?

--
Usenet: a nice place to visit -- but I wouldn't want to live there.
Dana Dare

grinder

During past wars there was frequent filming of woulded soldiers being
treated in the field (still shown on historical programming). Doesn't
compare to the Viet Nam war where the wounded were filmed being carried of
the planes and then again in the hospitals. I remember seeing every night
on the news totals of the dead and wounded.

screeching jay

Whose estimates, yours?


Then no one can be sure that wounded are being off loaded.


That a standard procedure. It's part of a well regulated infection control scheme.

Military doctors & hospitals staff are used to seeing wounded people
-- they don't get sick. That's left wing propaganda from the "foreign press"

You usually don't report what's not happening.

You are one gullible ****, boy.

richard rongstad

Sounds like you got your numbers from MTV, Socialist Worker's Party,
MoveOn.org, Independent Media Center and Democratic Underground.

According to Jason Burke and Paul Harris writing in The Observer,
"The true scale of American casualties in Iraq is revealed today by
new figures obtained by The Observer, which show that more than
6,000 American servicemen have been evacuated for medical reasons
since the beginning of the war, including more than 1,500 American
soldiers who have been wounded, many seriously."
(America's hidden battlefield toll New figures reveal the true
number of GIs wounded in Iraq, The Guardian Unlimited/The Observer,
Sunday September 14, 2003).

See - http://vikingphoenix.com/news/iraqwar/casualties.htm

The U.S. DoD lists fatal casualties online but hasn't been
releasing much information on wounded as far as I can see.
But, I doubt that there is a cover up of the numbers of wounded
as some; such as Harry Hope (rivrvu@ix.netcom.com) in
alt.politics.economics; have alleged. Otherwise, how
do Burke, Harris and others get their information?

And then there is this factor; I sure wouldn't want any of the
drooling cretins from MTV, Socialist Worker's Party, MoveOn.org,
Independent Media Center and Democratic Underground gloating
over my freshly amputated leg. So, the U.S. military protects
it's own, they remember the lessons of media and political
degenerates feasting on our wounded from other wars. I am happy
that "No reporters are allowed in the hospital.", as you state.

And then you wrote "The foreign press says Doctors and medical
staff are sickened by the amount of American wounded and
the extent of their injuries". So? That is hyperbole. Doctors
and medical staff can be sickened by one injury, and the foreign
press is like the American press, they repeat each other's stories,
run in circles and howl at the moon. There's your "propaganda
media machine".

As far as the medevac airplanes landing at night at a German airport,
yeah, so? A medevac mission beginning in daylight can quite likely
end at night. Do you want them to load casualties at midnight so
the reporters can drool in daylight and not lose any sleep?

At the airport, the casualties are then loaded on buses and moved
to the hospital, probably first to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

I've read a report from a U.S. Army chaplain caught in traffic
at a German base, late for a meeting, and as he fretted and fussed,
waited and watched, the stunned chaplain saw Bundeswehr security
forces spontaneously line both sides of the road, stand silently
at attention, and then salute the bus loads of U.S. casualties
passing through the gate. A German source corroborated this situation
for me and he indicated to me that attitudes of the German public
are not always accurately reflected by politician's words and news
reports.

My one possible complaint against DoD's system for release of
casualty information to the public is the statement seen at the
end of many reports, "This incident is being investigated"
- but so far, I haven't seen any systematic connection between
these statements and reports on results of investigations.
Granted, thorough investigations can take a long time, and
need to be reviewed before they are released.

Richard Rongstad
CWO2 USN (Ret.)
Republic of Vietnam 1969-1970
Phu Cat to Phu Quoc
The hospital. Been there, done that.

michael

I'm a disabled veteran. I'm worried about what will happen to VA health
care for us veterans. There will be a tremendous burden on the VA health
care system with all of the wounded and permanently disabled. But
instead of anticipating that impact and increasing the VA budget, it
seems like congress doesn't care.

--
Wesley Clark for President!
http://www.DraftWesleyClark.com

dana dare

From what I've read -- I'm worried, as a non-veteran -- about these
things too, and delivering on promises that we -- as Americans -- have
made to our Military folk.

I expected better, frankly, from a Republican-controlled government.
These last few years have been an eye-opener.

--
Usenet: a nice place to visit -- but I wouldn't want to live there.
Dana Dare

dana dare

Thanks. I remember *some* (I was very young) of what was reported during
Vietnam, and how it was reported -- but not enough to be able to
compare, accurately.

--
Usenet: a nice place to visit -- but I wouldn't want to live there.
Dana Dare

richard rongstad

I'm a veteran too Michael, how did you get disabled?

How can Wesley Clark help disabled veterans?

revenant

Grinder,

Any proof of this? Generally anything that smells even vaguely like a
cover-up has the press salivating more than Pavlov's dog (especially when
it makes Republicans look bad). I haven't seen any mention of shielding the
wounded from the press.