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The Big O and its Daily "U.S. Deaths" Box: A modest proposal
Submitted by lastmarx on January 1, 2006 - 10:00pm
To the editor, The Oregonian
The title of your recent "U.S. Deaths" box is misleading. In addition to close to 2,200 military deaths, it included, as it does only occasionally, 16,155 wounded. This proposal will provide readers with a more accurate and respectful understanding of the human cost to America from its current "wars of choice."
I suggest you title the box "U.S. Casualties" and regularily include the latest count of wounded by hostile action. It should also include about 200 dead American mercenaries (called "security contractors" in Pentagonese). And why do you ignore the over 100 dead and other casuaties in Afganistan?
Finally, If the "Casualties" box is to be accurate, it must also report those the Pentagon attributes to "non-hostile" causes (including those medically evacuated from the war zones for physical and mental illness) just as you do deaths from such causes-- 465 in the recent box. That total is now around 25,000, and some of them have disputed their classification.
While it is obvious that the greatest cost is paid by the families of the dead, your failure to report the rest of U.S.casualties disrespects the many more families who must deal with the often devastating and lifelong damage to their wounded and injured members.
If you are serious about honoring the sacrifices exacted by this unjustified war, you need to tell your readers accurately what they are.
Michael Munk
Minus the big zerO
The newspaper is seriously not honor bound, fears the morbid and desecrates the dying, shares not in sacrifice, and can never tell readers accurately, truthfully, the cost of the human loss for war is the price the paper sets for its profit.
The media made this war with lies, entangled from making this president with lies, entangled from rightist ruination of this Oregon state with lies. That's three strikes. They are out.
Forget resuscitating democracy somewhere in the newspaper with a spark of good-spirited advice. Burn them. In the new media, this blog can post the serious, honorable, accurate war casualty conscience information by linking with the family reports firsthand, eye-witness.
A radical propsal: Forget the big zerO. Form the community informed.
Agreed!
If anyone has the html code for a 'death & casualty' toll counter from these atrocious wars of choice, I can post it here in the column of the site. Or just post a link in a comment and I will try to track it down. Meanwhile, kudos to Mr. Munk for at least trying to awaken our newspaper of record from its coma on this subject.