Pentagon caught in deception again,..
Pentagon lies with stats
By Boston Herald Editorial Staff
The Pentagon is playing a shameful numbers game and this week in Washington Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) blew the whistle on it.
One set of “official” numbers for troops wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq lists the figure at about 23,000. But the actual number of those injured in those two theaters of operation is more than double that - around 53,000.
Why the difference? The larger number reflects so-called non-combat injuries - say from riding in a Humvee that rolled into a ditch or contracting an illness while on duty.
“It doesn’t make a difference whether you were hit by enemy fire, or injured because your vehicle crashed, or got sick because of serving in a war zone,” Obama said in a statement. “The effects on the soldiers and their families are the same. And the impact in terms of the current fighting force and future demands on the VA are also the same.”
A Pentagon Web site used to list all war wounded, but according to the Associated Press that same site recently dropped non-combat wounded from its chart. The Veterans Administration also used to list all wounded (their number stood at about 50,000 last November), but under Pentagon pressure dropped the number to 21,000.
The astonishing thing is that somehow the big thinkers at the Pentagon believe this will perhaps turn around public opinion - maybe make an increasingly misguided effort in Iraq more palatable. Obama and Snowe have filed legislation to force the VA and Defense to at least keep an honest set of numbers. It’s the least we owe those who wear this nation’s uniform.
