A surprising set of statistics, released by the Congressional Research Service verify two important facts: 1) more than double the military deaths occurred during the Clinton administration than the Bush presidency; 2) more military deaths occurred to those of European descent than African-Americans, Asians, or Hispanics.
The annual fatalities, by any cause, of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2007:
1980 2,392 (Carter)
1981 2,380 (Reagan)
1984 1,999 (Reagan)
1988 1,819 (Reagan)
1989 1,636 (George H W)
1990 1,508 (George H W)
1991 1,787 (George H W)
1992 1,293 (George H W)
1993 1,213 (Clinton)
1994 1,075 (Clinton)
1995 2,465 (Clinton)
1996 2,318 (Clinton)
1997 817 (Clinton)
1998 2,252 (Clinton)
1999 1,984 (Clinton)
2000 1,983 (Clinton)
2001 890 (George W)
2002 1,007 (George W)
2003 1,410 (George W)
2004 1,887 (George W)
2005 919 (George W)
2006 920 (George W)
2007 899 (George W)
Clinton years (1993-2000): 14,107 deaths
George W years (2001-2007): 7,932 deaths
The figures indicate the loss from the two latest Middle East conflicts are less than the loss of military personnel during Clinton's presidency when America wasn't even involved in a war--unless you include Bosnia and Mogadishu, Somalia. Perhaps even more surprising is that in 1980, during the Carter presidency, there were 2,392 US military fatalities which is quite a bit more than any comparable Bush year.
The media and politicians are selectively producing "facts" that support their agenda. Carter is viewed as a peace maker while the image of Bush was that of a war monger. It is not true.
European descent 69.12 percent
Hispanic 12.50 percent
Black 12.30 percent
Asian 3.70 percent
Native American 1.00 percent
Other 2.60 percent
Many members of the media lead us to believe the military death ratio is off balanced compared to the distribution by race in America. Here are the fatalities by race over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom:
European descent 74.31 percent
Hispanic 10.74 percent
Black 9.67 percent
Asian 1.81 percent
Native American 1.09 percent
Other 0.33 percent
Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.