A report conducted by the Pentagon yesterday was released which said that at
least 80% of the marines who died in Iraq did so from upper chest injuries,
meaning that if they had been given the proper equipment which has been
available since 2003 they would of survived.
Now this report is a preliminary report and they only took 93 case studies
but it most likely represents some pretty solid numbers. Further more it doesn’t
address vehicle armor. How many soldiers have died because their vehicles didn’t
have the proper armor?
This truly puts into perspective all those stories we have heard in the media
of families of soldiers sending money to their loved ones serving so they can
purchase items to armor their vehicles and themselves. I understand the notion
of a volunteer army as I was a volunteer firefighter. Being a volunteer
firefighter, our department supplied us with everything we needed to remain
safe. I would expect the same from the most advanced army that serves the
richest nation in the history of mankind.
To really make this matter bad is the fact that we did not have to go to Iraq
when we did. We could of delayed the war and made sure the armor was
manufactured and supplied to the troops. Instead, George Bush wish his cowboy
antics decided to hurry up and get in there without a) capturing Osama and b)
making sure our military was ready.
The families of fallen soldiers really need to start pushing for Congress to
act before we see another 2193 of our soldiers die needlessly in this unjust
war. If you agree with the purpose of the war or not, no one can agree with the
reckless manor in which it has been fought.
You can view the New York Times article on this story
here or view the PDF version of the report
here.