One has to wonder if Republican “strategist” Gary Abernathy is really stupid or a liar.
To be honest, it’s hard to tell. Probably a combination of both.
In one of his latest entries, Abernathy plagarizes an old Republican talking point that’s already been debunked.
Did you know there were more military deaths under Clinton than under Bush?
Facts are a disturbing thing sometimes, but they do help to separate reality from fiction. While the media breathlessly reports every death in Iraq, statistics from the Department of Defense help put things in perspective.
As we all know, more than 3,600 soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq. But the total number of active duty deaths during the Clinton years, from 1993 through 2000, totaled 7,514, an average of 939 per year, even without a major extended war. Even adding up all active military deaths under President Bush, the total so far is just over 7,000.
Where to begin with Abernathy?
First off, he’s plagarizing and passing off a lie as original. No where does he mention the point has been raised before, most noteably by the New York Sun’s Alicia Colon, who raised this in February.
But maybe he doesn’t mention his argument’s lack of originality because it’s a talking point already debunked.
From Salon:
“The total military dead in the Iraq war between 2003 and this month stands at about 3,133. This is tragic, as are all deaths due to war, and we are facing a cowardly enemy unlike any other in our past that hides behind innocent citizens,” Colon wrote. “Each death is blazoned in the headlines of newspapers and Internet sites. What is never compared is the number of military deaths during the Clinton administration: 1,245 in 1993; 1,109 in 1994; 1,055 in 1995; 1,008 in 1996. That’s 4,417 deaths in peacetime but, of course, who’s counting?”
With a tip of the hat to Andrew Sullivan, who has already done some of the legwork on this, we’d like to point out the irrelevance of the statistics Colon cites. In fact, when you look at the data provided by the Defense Department, you’ll notice that almost none of the deaths during the Clinton administration — just 76 over an eight-year period — were from hostile action or terrorism. The rest were the result of accident, homicide, illness or suicide or were of an as-yet-undetermined nature.
These noncombat deaths have not simply stopped happening. There are still noncombat deaths going on in the military, and they are, for the most part, kept as a separate tally from the deaths in Iraq. (To be fair, some of the deaths — about 16 percent — that have occurred in Iraq are similarly not the result of hostile action.) The absolute number of deaths that have happened as a result of our invasion of Iraq may not be astoundingly high, but they are still deaths entirely above and beyond those that would happen in the course of normal peacetime military business, and that’s not something Colon factors into her argument at all. Military deaths have spiked upward from the final years of the Clinton administration. In 1999, there were 796 total military deaths; in 2000, there were 758; in 2003, there were 1,410; and in 2004, there were 1,887.
So he’s using a debunked talking point.
But it’s worse than that. Abernathy is using different numbers. Although he lists the Federation of American Scientists’ web site as his source, those numbers don’t say what he claims they say if a reader actually follows his link. The site he lists ends military deaths under Bush in 2004. Add them up and the answer comes to 5,194 since it just includes 2001 to 2004 under Bush – not “just over 7,000.” He’d have to answer why he linked to that site since the numbers don’t say what he claims.
So where did he get his numbers? I don’t know. So let’s go straight to the Department of Defense. There’s the link so you can see where I got my numbers from to add them up and confirm this for yourself.
Total deaths – combat and noncombat – from 1993 to 2000: 7,500.
That’s an average of 937 deaths per year in President Clinton’s eight years. Most of those deaths as you can see from the Department of Defense chart were from accidents. In any given year with a population the size of the military’s there will be accidental deaths, particularly when such hazardous equipment and training is involved. But as you can see from the numbers, the number of deaths from accidents in the military actually declined each year, from 1,213 in 1993 to 758 in 2000. That last number isn’t an anomoly. You can see for yourself that all deaths had declined each year under President Clinton.
So let’s look at the number of all military deaths under Mr. George W. Bush, which Abernathy claims is “just over 7,000.”
(Of course, none of those deaths involve chickenhawk war supporter who won’t enlist in a war they claim to support.)
What does the Department of Defense say the number is?
Total deaths – combat and noncombat – from 2001 to 2006: 8,792.
That’s not me calling Gary Abernathy a liar or fool. That’s the Department of Defense proving he’s a liar or a fool.
That’s an average of 1,465 military deaths per year from 2001 to 2006.
That’s not even counting the deaths in 2007, which have increased significantly with the escalation of the occupation. That’s not counting the deaths – combat and noncombat – that will occur in 2008 to equal the eight years Abernathy compares to Clinton’s figures.
There’s an additional 576 combat and noncombat deaths in Iraq alone this year through June 30, not counting accidental deaths in the United States or casualties in Afghanistan and other nations.
Now, is Abernathy claiming 9,368 plus an unknown more is “just over 7,000” (note his lack of specifics) because he’s lying or just plain stupid? Only Abernathy can answer that. And considering his track record, I doubt if we should trust his answer.
Post script:
This isn’t the first time I’ve caught Abernathy making things up.
