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Dec. 6, 2004 Every few days, one or more U.S. military people dies in Iraq. The liberal news media such as the New York Times and CBS TV usually give it headline emphasis, often with a grisly photo, and figuratively rubbing our noses in the blood. Periodically they remind us that a little more than 1,000 Americans have died in Iraq since the present invasion started (early in 2003, almost two years ago). Of course, it's a truly terrible thing if even one person dies in such events, especially for a relative or friend of the casualty. However, this is a big, country, populous and rich, and we need a huge military effort to protect ourselves in this dangerous world. Plenty of other countries would love to kill or enslave us, and take the great lands and resources that we've got --- or just kill us because they hate us. The military protection that we vitally need involves big costs of all kinds. One of these is that, even in peacetime, about 1,000 U.S. soldiers and sailors die every year from accidents, which is much higher than the per capita civilian accident rate. That's right, it's every year, in peacetime! (The reference for this is an item by Princeton University professor Jeffrey Herbst, on page A22 of the August 4, 1994 New York Times.) I'm not trying to say that the present death rate in Iraq is something to ignore, but it is a load that our big, rich country must bear, in order to stay free and safe. Was the Iraq invasion justified? I claim that it was, because the U.N would eventually have to withdraw its expensive WMD search team, since no such weapons were being found (N.Y Times, Sept. 30, 2004, page A29). Afterwards, Saddam was planning to use the world's second largest oil reserves to finance a reconstructed war machine (N.Y. Times, Sept. 17, 2004, page A1). His plans included buying Scud missiles from China again, but this time it would be the improved long range type (N.Y. Times, Oct. 8, 2004, page A-1). He also planned to obtain long range missiles from North Korea or Pakistan. The warheads could easily contain poison gas and/or TNT plus nuclear waste powder (N.Y. Times, Sept. 26, 2004, page WK-12), when his oil money became freely available for purchasing such materials from impoverished but aggressive countries. It would then be too late for us to stop the juggernaut. Arguments about all this can go on forever, because we can never prove what "would have happened" if we had waited longer. The best we can do is look back once in a while, and consider what probably would have happened if we had waited before confronting Hitler, until after he conquered Russia. We do have to make tough decisions in the face of such threats. It's a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situation, where either choice has penalties. The penalty from our choice in Iraq is about a thousand deaths in two years, plus an enormous monetary deficit. However, we certainly must consider these things with the perspective that America is a big country, with big penalties and rewards. Our news media practically never points out the accidental death rate of a thousand per year in our peacetime military. It is also important to realize that, in our big country, we have more than 100 deaths EVERY DAY from automobile accidents (now amounting to about 40,000 per year). Do we hear about this in the morning news, to compare with Iraq? It's part of being in a big country --- a penalty that unfortunately comes along with the tremendous utility and convenience of our automobiles. Do our news media remind us that deaths from CIVILIAN GUNS (hunting, murders, suicides, accidents) in the U.S. also adds up to about 40,000 per year? (This was reported on page 18 of the Oct. 17, 1999 New York Times, with whom you will realize I have a love/hate relationship. They do give us the raw information, but not the emphasis needed for an intelligent perspective!) Anyhow, that's another 100 every day, from guns here at home. How about deaths from MISTAKES in U.S. hospitals? That depends on whom you believe, the medical establishment, or the insurance companies and other data collectors. The Harvard Medical School Health Letter (a little monthly magazine) said "at least 44,000 Americans die every year from preventable medical errors" (June 2004, page 1). The good old New York Times, however, reported that "medical errors are killing 195,000 people a year in American hospitals" (Aug. 1, 2004, page WK-11). Whatever is the truth, it's more than 100 a day. It's a big country. ------------ About the author: Dan Shanefield is a retired engineering prof, who worked at Bell Labs and then at Rutgers University. He wrote the book "Industrial Electronics for Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians". Visit his website or email Dan Shanefield: shanefield@ieee.org Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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