U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 3,000

AP – 5 minutes ago BAGHDAD, Iraq – The death of a Texas soldier, announced Sunday by the Pentagon, raised the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq to at least 3,000 since the war began, according to an Associated Press count.

Spc. Dustin R. Donica, 22, of Spring, Texas, was killed Thursday by small arms fire in Baghdad, the Defense Department said. Donica was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Distortions Of Casualties
American Wounded, And Dead, From Iraq

Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, presented the staff of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl with a special Canadian Forces Unit Commendation.

‘We saw men and women, doctors and nurses and specialists at the hospital, who looked after our soldiers on the worst days of their lives. They looked after them as if they were their own.’     — Gen. Rick Hillier

 
Distortions Of Casualties
American Wounded, And Dead, From Iraq

In May of 2004, NBC News originated a program from Landstuhl, and stated flatly that “over 12,000 American soldiers” had had to be airlifted to that medical center for care. At the same time, the administration continued to offer vastly smaller numbers in order to prevent public alarm.

Since then, of course, there have been countless attacks across Iraq every week, and the forces of opposition to occupation detail them. The reporting exposes American casualties only when witnesses have been on the scene.

The number of wounded has ballooned to perhaps minimally 30,000 – 35,000, and these of course include amputees, soldiers with severe burns, missing eyes, extreme psychiatric disorders including suicidal or homicidal behavior, and every casualty known to warfare. The administration’s official count as of early February 2006 is approximately 16,500. (2)

The apparent strategy of the “information specialists” whom the administration employs for communication purposes is to present the news about casualties in limited doses. The limited dose approach protects Bush and his administration from further fallout on credibility regarding the Iraq policy.

The Casualty