unhappycamper,et al..what is with all the "non-combat related" deaths lately..any insight?

[w8liftinglady]

http://icasualties.org/oif/Details.aspx
am I just noticing it more?

[baldguy]

1. Frags or suicides?

[w8liftinglady]

3. I don't know-there are many"under investigation"

[liberal renegade]

6. I wonder who's investigating?

Keystone Kops?

[lips]

2. Giardia???

Who knows...there's a reason we, in America, have seen fit to call the situation that's been brought on via U.S. occupation a 'cesspool'.

[sam sarrha]

4. there is a Cholera epidemic in Iraq now

[rzemanfl]

5. Why would you believe our government? n/t

[TomInTib]

7. I'm guessing equipment failure.

I, too, have been wondering about this.

Heavy equipment and weaponry has a very short shelf-life in that fine sand.

You have suspension failures, which in turn will result in rollovers or vehicles plunging off of berms or into rivers and irrigation canals.

I could go on and on. As I said, I have been wondering about this - a good bit.


For decades, I have wondered how many guys we lost due to malfunctioning M16s.

[Hekate]

8. I think the Bushites are cooking the books -- as usual

Weren't they classifying vehicle rollovers and such as "non-combat" from the get-go? And I think soldiers who die of their injuries after they return home aren't counted either. I could be wrong on this, of course, but EVERYthing they do with numbers is as fishy as three-day old cod.

Thanks for asking the question. Perhaps someone has a more substantive answer than I.

Hekate

[libodem]

9. I surprised that more heat-strokes

don't kill our guys especially under all that gear.

[w8liftinglady]

14. I think of that every day...

I took care of tons of heat-strokes here in Texas,where the temp is a mere 105-108.I can imagine what it's like in Baghdad.

[Maq]

10. The US Navy list most women as dying of "Natural Causes"

What is so natural about A SUPPOSEDLY HEALTHY woman dying at ayoung age.

[unhappycamper]

11. I've noticed the rise, but haven't come to any conclusions yet.

TomInTib pointed out that sand is doing a number on the machinery.

We know that many are back in Iraq on their 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th tour.

We know that gangs are now in the military.

I haven't heard of fraggings, but I would be surprised if they are not occurring.



BTW, icasualties.org does count soldiers who have died as a result of Iraq: http://icasualties.org/oif/Dow.aspx

What is not counted are the suicides of those who have left the service.


Sorry I can't offer more insight. :shrug:

[w8liftinglady]

12. I've noticed they divide them into several catagories

Non-hostile-accident
""illness
""-still under investigation...many of those are never resolved.

[unhappycamper]

13. You also need to keep in mind that the people investigating are the

same people who investigated Pat Tillman's death. And we know how that worked out. . . .

[Maq]

15. add another non-combat related incident todays 23 Sep

Command Sgt. Maj. Jonathan M. Lankford, 42, of Scottsboro, Ala., died Sept. 22, in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 79th Ordnance Battalion, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

It catches my eye when senior NCOs and Officers die. WHY when they have all this accumulated experience to survive, especially in a wartime environment. Of course, given that this CSM is in an Ordnance Battalion, maybe it was an occupational risk situation.