Modern Warfare has a new face.
The number of wounded in battle has always
exceeded those who have died but today that ratio has tilted drastically. The
death toll in modern warfare no longer gives us even a semblance of the
casualties of war.
The all volunteer army has isolated large sectors of our society from general military actions. Laws have been put in place to curb the pictures of war and its casualties from reaching us. With this growing isolation from war we are less able to fully gauge the costs and sacrifices of our sons and daughters that defend us. During the Gulf War from August 1990 to February 1991 the United States suffered 148 killed in action and 121 killed in non-hostile actions for a total count of 269. The official count of those wounded or maimed was 458. We now know that the actual figures for those maimed and injured to be in excess of 175,000 (http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4AG6HU20081117),
giving us a ratio of some 650 wounded or maimed for every 1 death.
Even if this is adjusted by subtracting 90% of the injuries, the ratio is over 66 to 1. Some may argue that the above statistics, while true, are an anomaly. They are not an anomaly! We clearly see this dramatically increased ratio continuing in the current wars (Afganistan & Iraq ). In WWI, WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the ratio of critically injured to those that died was approximately 2.5 to 1. By the most conservative estimates the ratio in the current wars is many times this figure.
16 to 1 was formed in order to create awareness of the new ratios and to better inform the American public regarding the sacrifices of our sons and daughters on the battlefield. When we hear that the current casualty figure for the Iraq war is 4200 (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm), we ask that the statistic be changed to include all Critical War Injuries. (CWI's). Critical War Injury figures will include both those that have died and those that have been maimed and seriously wounded. With some 75,000 dead, maimed and seriously injured in these current battles, the figure of 4200 becomes one of the great inequities of our time. Americans deserve a more accurate picture of our military engagements and our service men and women deserve a more informed support for their efforts.
Modern Warfare has also brought us a new phenomenon that
further supports the 16 to 1 cause: The sophistication of bio-weaponry,
chemical weaponry, chemical and bio hazards, and radioactive hazards (link to
Depleted Uranium) have greatly increased the exposure of our troops to causes
of long range disabling effects (most frequently not discovered for years after
deployment). Statistics for those injured during war is always revised upward but the revisions now tend to be revisions by tens of thousands.
The sophistication of combat apparel, armor, support and communication devices, coupled with enormous advances in medical technologies have resulted in far fewer deaths and an ever increasing group of horrifically maimed survivors. We have also witnessed the arrival of a whole host of new disabling long term brain concussion injuries. There comes a point in time where lines must be drawn and new policies adopted.
We have reached one of those times and we need to step up to the plate and honor those that have given so much. We need a public adoption of war casualty figures that reflects, in an honest way, the actual price they have paid in real time. We cannot be isolated from the true nature of the deeds and sacrifices of our sons and daughters in defending our shores. They cannot be isolated from our affections and care because we are ignorant of the suffering they endure.
16 to 1 has three main goals:
1. To make every American aware that for every one of our soldiers that die in modern warfare an increasingly larger group are maimed and seriously injured. That the death toll in current and future wars no longer gives us even a remote sense of the real casualties of war.
2. To create a war memorial that reflects both those that died and those who have been maimed and seriously injured.
3. To debate the use of Depleted Uranium in munitions and
armor by the US Military and all members of the United Nations. We invite your
input, your help and your donations.
Compassion cannot embrace what it does not
know and America needs to know. Please help us with your generous support!
To all
our men and women that have served, we cannot possibly tell you how much we
appreciate the sacrifices you have made. For those shining down upon us and
those that remain here with us, we wish you fair winds and following seas. You have not been forgotten, you are in our hearts and our prayers.