Safety at what cost? (Part 2)

The first part dealt with the cost to our values and freedoms. This part deals strictly with numbers.

The number of American service personnel killed (to date, 3,797 deaths) is the only number reported consistently by the American media. This number is dismaying enough, but it hides several other important numbers:

1. American casualties (those who are wounded, often with a loss of limb), which is much greater than the number of service personnel killed
2. coalition troops killed and wounded
3. American and coalition contractor deaths and casualties
   
4. Iraqis killed and wounded

The number of Iraqis killed is unknown; no official number exists despite being the highest number of deaths. CNN reports one study estimating 655,000 Iraqi deaths. That number is a tragedy. Since there are usually many more wounded than killed, the Iraqi casualties must be in the millions. We have failed to protect Iraqi civilians. Unwittingly, we have unleashed sectarian violence, which the Iraqi government either has not stopped or cannot stop. We must do better. Not only does the future of the country and perhaps the region depend on it, but human lives are being lost. We must add these lives as one of the costs of the invasion, performed, according to President Bush, to provide safety to Americans.