[quote]Um, Nitro..... U.S wounded in Iraq alone is 30,182 wounded and 4,280 killed. Put the two numbers together, and you get 34,462 casualties (that's wounded + killed) http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm[/quote]
Nice chart and nice big page explanation of methodology. Maybe they are counting boo boos (they do, even in peacetime). I gave you the Department of Defense figures (they might be counting only combat causalities) LINK even breaks it down by state. Statistics. Of course I've seen plenty of men die, and even more hurt and that was between wars. It happens. Have you ever picked up body parts Arty? If not I guess you can read about it.
Of those 1.6 million deployments, several studies conducted estimate that the number of mental-health injuries comprise approximately 300,000 returning servicemen, a far higher number than the 100,000 I quoted.
Yeah here's another Obama friendly source (CBS), granted from last year, quoting metal health "casualties" LINK . Funny, I had to fill out one of these silly questionnaires when I got out. Are you sad, do you have trouble sleeping, blah, blah, blah I wouldn't be surprised if give to Canada half your population would have PSTD! But you read it somewhere...it must be true. I'm sure there are some people that can't handle stress well. Then there are those that like to convince people their is something wrong with them because they had a bad day.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24183188
The number's here will really get better soon on the Obama news network.
By 2007 the ratio was 1 contractor per 1.4 soldiers Keep in mind these are all purely "defence and defence related" contractors, all getting paid a lot more than what a counterpart U.S serviceman is getting. A report from the GAO in 2006 stated that of all the defence contractors in the country, approximately 48,000 were armed security services, essentially hired guns like Blackwater, Triple Canopy, Custer Battles and so forth.
I guess the U.S. Central Command, July 2007, is full of crap then. 67659 workers in Iraq and Afghanistan. If I multiply that figure by 1.4, I get 94722.6 hardly half of the troops that are there LINK . Damn statistics! So who do you trust? A Canadian civilian with an Internet connection I suppose! LOL!
Since you're such an expert, Nitro, about the military, why don't you recount to me the speech Rumsfeld gave to the Pentagon on Sept. 10, 2001?
Obama had a speech too, in 2008, stating his plan for US troops to be removed from Iraq by March 31, 2009 LINK
Now what was your point????
Show me a politician, elected or appointed, and I'll show you a speech not worth the paper (or teleprompter) it's written on. Your statement is laughable. Do you believe everything you read and hear as fact that something will occur?
Then of course you had the ever famous Halliburton which took on dozens of the army's traditional functions like repairing and maintaining vehicles and radios.
Good! Someone got to do the fighting. they don't have time to fix vehicles (though some there do). Haliburton takes care of depot level (with the military, mostly in Kuwait, ever been? It's expensive.). This ain't Canada, eh?
I could go on and on. Entire books have been written on the subject.... "Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill is a good one you should read, but suffice it to say that "this man's army" sure aint what it used to be and has had many of it's traditional roles outsourced entirely, all being paid for by top taxpayer dollar!
And on and on you go. It's easy to be a stay at home chicken shit, when you could join and find out for yourself, right? But that isn't you is it. It's much easier to criticize a military that isn't even your own. Get in line, there are plenty of asshats here ahead of you. Barnes and Nobles is full of books where you can find support your for position, and better proposed. That don't make it a reality. I wonder if scrubs that never never served like to tell their doctors how to operate too?
You have a fascination with Rumsfeld, I didn't care much for him either, but he sure as hell didn't run the military. Not in the way you give him credit. Maybe you want troops to get off patrol and cook their meals, clean barracks, etc. Well I say anything that makes those men and womens comfort easier after a day of putting their lives on the line, is worth it. Maybe these contractors get paid too much, people aren't exactly flocking to work there, but I don't have to tell you that do I Mr. Self-sacrifice?
Indeed. I think that social security and medicare in the U.S should be abolished entirely. While you're at it, why don't you get rid of the public education system too? I mean, it's not like the U.S has a bunch of retirees that are depending on any of these programs. Let's let granny smith freeze to death and lower the surplus population
Ah liberal sarcasm, gotta love it. They want to show off their "knowledge" then get their panties in a twist when it is shown for what it is. BTW I used your link on another thread, thanks!
And that fellow who gave 15 or 20 years of service at Ford or Chrysler and just lost his job, how dare the slacker expect a handout, let him pull himself up by his bootstraps!
They signed their contracts, I signed mine...only exception I wasn't in a Union. Might have had a little more stashed if they didn't pay their dues. Bet the union bosses still have a job. See how well that worked out!
I'm not entirely unsympathetic to their plight, even though they share the greed with the company that created that monster. They did however pay into unemployment insurance (same as me) so they have that. Obama keeps adding weeks to collect unemployment. Funny the only time he had a problem with spending was for the already won Iraq war.
Anyway let me know when you write an article fixing Canada. I have plenty of solutions, speeches, and websites so we can get it straightened out quick. After all it is about the population of the largest 10 US cities, give or take a few. 
