So it seems that Iraq is creating more wounded than is commonly realised, and that this may cause problems in the future?
From www.foreignpolicy.com
From www.foreignpolicy.com
That's a lot of soldiers!In last years list, we pointed out that the health of the U.S. military was in serious decline.
At 7 to 1, the ratio of wounded to dead in Iraq was the highest of any conflict in recent memory, including Vietnam, where the ratio was 3 to 1.
A year later, the story is worseand still largely ignored. In 2005, the most common number cited regarding the war in Iraq was the more than 2,100 U.S. soldiers that have died.
When the number of wounded was mentioned, the Pentagon figure of more than 15,500 U.S. troops, or the Army Medical Departments total of 20,748 medical evacuations, was usually rolled out.
Today, the wounded-to-dead ratio remains near 7 to 1 by this official count. But a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report released in October tells a bigger story.
Its data shows that 119,247 veterans of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have sought VA healthcare.
Of those, 46,450 were diagnosed primarily with musculoskeletal problems, such as joint ailments and back disorders.
More than 36,800 veterans, or 31 percent of those the VA cared for, were treated primarily for mental disorders.
Not even the VA had anticipated the number of soldiers they would be asked to help. In June, the agency told lawmakers that it had underestimated the the number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and required $1 billion in emergency funding.