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| WaPo Sunday - Four for Four | |
| 2006-10-08 | |
U.S. Casualties in Iraq Rise Sharply Growing American Role in Staving Off Civil War Leads to Most Wounded Since 2004 The number of U.S troops wounded in Iraq has surged to its highest monthly level in nearly two years as American GIs fight block-by-block in Baghdad to try to check a spiral of sectarian violence that U.S. commanders warn could lead to civil war. Last month, 776 U.S. troops were wounded in action in Iraq, the highest number since the military assault to retake the insurgent-held city of Fallujah in November 2004, according to Defense Department data. It was the fourth-highest monthly total since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The sharp increase in American wounded -- with nearly 300 more in the first week of October -- is a grim measure of the degree to which the U.S. military has been thrust into the lead More than 20,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in combat in the Iraq war, and about half have returned to duty. While much media reporting has focused on the more than 2,700 killed, military experts say the number of wounded is a more accurate gauge of the fierceness of fighting because advances in armor and medical care today allow many service members to survive who would have perished in past wars. The ratio of wounded to killed among U.S. forces in Iraq is about 8 to 1, compared with 3 to 1 in Vietnam. "These days, wounded are a much better measure of the intensity of the operations than killed," said Anthony H. Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. | |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #4 |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2006-10-08 19:09 |
| #3 |
| Posted by: SpecOp35 2006-10-08 12:13 |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-10-08 11:01 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-10-08 10:59 |