The 2,000 hoax

Tonight and tomorrow there will be plenty of time devoted in the media about the 2,000th military death in Iraq. This major based in Qatar tells why this focus on the 2000th 'death' is inaccurate and is being amplified to serve the aims of the "Bush Lied, People Died" caterwaulers:

...Unfortunately, this story is bogus for a few different reasons. Please keep in mind I am military, and none of that which follows is to make light of any of the deaths not matter what column they fall into, but rather to point out that those that make hay about this milestone, and actually celebrating it to further their own cause.

First, being in the military is a high-risk enterprise, even when you are not in combat. Humvees roll over, helicopters crash, people commit suicide, people get hit by vehicles. People die. But in this instance, since they happened in a combat zone, they fit neatly into the meme of the leftists that "Bush Lied, People Died". They would have you believe that all of these brave souls died as victims of imperialist government fighting in an illegal war. Bringthemhomenow.org says "So far, more than 1950 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq ...."

But only slightly more than 1500 have actually died from hostile fire. More than 400 military members have died due to non-combat causes. And not all of the almost 2000 deaths have actually happened in Iraq. If a military member dies in the AOR, on orders for OIF, his/her death is counted towards "the milestone of 2,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq".
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Now, as I said before, none of this is to make light of everyone that has died, no matter the circumstances. But he point is to not allow those on the left make you buy into this "milestone". It is bogus accounting to try and further an agenda, and as in many cases, the MSM won't exert itself to do the analysis it should and read the data behind the numbers. This is how myths and memes survive.