Daily U.S. Casualties 3/19/2004

Daily U.S. Casualties 3/19/2004


As of Thursday, 568 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 385 died as a result of hostile action and 183 died of nonhostile causes, the department said.

Since May 1, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 430 U.S. soldiers have died -- 270 as a result of hostile action and 160 of nonhostile causes, according to the military.

Since the start of military operations, 2,842 U.S. service members have been injured as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department's figures. Nonhostile injured numbered 431.

The latest deaths reported by the military:


Two soldiers were killed Wednesday in a mortar attack on a base next to Baghdad International Airport.


A Marine was killed Wednesday in a mortar attack on a 1st Marine Expeditionary

Force base in Husayba along the Syrian border.

The latest identification reported by family members:


Army Spc. Tracy L. Laramore, 30, Okaloosa, Fla.; died Wednesday in Baji, Iraq, of injuries sustained when his vehicle flipped over in a river; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, Schweinfurt, Germany.


Army Pfc. Ernest Sutphin, 21, Parkersburg, W.Va.; died Thursday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, after his vehicle was struck by a homemade bomb northeast of Habbiniyah, Iraq, on March 11; assigned to the 25th Infantry Division, Hawaii.

The appalling roster of slaughter in Iraq shows neo-con policy to be a complete diaster.

For the first time in the policy debate about the march to war in Iraq, the notion of unmeasured opportunity cost is being brought up for the first time, TWO YEARS TOO LATE!

CNBC's senior economist reported a study which indicated that 600 million was shaved off equity values and 1 to 1.5 percent off the GDP by the fear and uncertainty that led up to the war. Estimates on the opportunity costs of dumping tens of billions of dollars overseas for war purposes were not included. The Chimp was quoted from file video, "The drumbeat to war IN THE PRESS isn't good for bidness."

The same economist reporting doesn't see any inflation as a result of the war. The twenty percent plus slide of the dollar wasn't mentioned. The unmeasured loss of economic potential in domestic markets by investing such money at home in areas such as education was mentioned.

This CNBC reporter actually stated that 120 billion in war costs would have supported the sanctions on Iraq for another twenty years.
Joe said "What about the potential benefits of democracy getting a foothold in Iraq?" Joe just got back from vacation.