Common Sense University

As Common Sense Authors, we always have and will continue to look at all issues from a point of view where we ask the question: “Does this make sense?” and then we will analyze it to make sense out of it or critique it when it does not. Knowing the media’s opposition to President Bush and war in general, it came as no surprise that ever since the War in Iraq began nearly five years ago, the mainstream media has focused entirely on bad news, i.e., daily reporting casualties. At times, it appeared to us that they showed even a certain sense of eagerness when they could state that another three, five or more soldiers had died in Iraq and by what means, be they enemy action, roadside bombs or just accidental deaths. And then these statistics were reported on a month-to-month basis and analyzed whether the numbers increased and by how much. We have to be absolutely clear from the beginning, we here at this site are deeply saddened and bemoan every casualty that occurs when it happens and we are definitely not gleeful about it.

At issue though is the eagerness and steadfastness with which the media has been reporting them, we cannot shake the feeling that the media members can hardly wait for the day when they (finally) can report that the 4000th death has occurred. As a result of the current military strategy in Iraq with the surge in troops; the so-called ‘counter-insurgency’, there have been fewer casualties in recent months and they had to wait a bit longer. This is cynical to call it mildly especially in light of the fact, that now when things are going better in Iraq; the war is off the front page of newspapers and no longer the first story on the evening news. The media is apparently guided by the old axiom “If it bleeds, it leads!” This is also taken to mean “Good news is no news.”

We decided to look into casualty statistics of previous Presidents and the results were truly startling and surprising. The Defense Manpower Data Center, Statistical Analysis Information Division lists casualties by year (see below for summary view) going back to 1980. According to them, under President Bush Sr. (four years from 1989 to 1992), there were 6223 casualties of active duty military personnel, under President Clinton (eight years from 1993 to 2000), 7500 military deaths occurred while for the six years from 2001 to 2006 under the current President, 8792 soldiers died. Adding the 899 casualties in 2007, this adds up to 9691 in total deaths for seven years of George W. Bush’s presidency. Even if this number should grow to 10,500 by the end of his current term, the total number is by comparison about 3000 more than the one under his predecessor Bill Clinton when America was not even involved in a war. Taking these numbers as averages, under President Clinton there were 938 casualties among military personnel per year while the number is 1313 annually under President Bush. The difference is 375 deaths per year with six years of war in Iraq and even longer in Afghanistan.

Once again, every death is one death too many as far as Common Sense Authors is concerned, our simple question is: Why do the media members think that this information is only important to report when a Republican is occupying the White House? Can anybody remember that these statistics ever made it to the front pages of America’s major newspapers from 1993 until 2000? We cannot! This appears to be an agenda item for the liberal leaning media in our country and that is shameful. Their opposition toward war and bias toward Republicans twists their brains to such an extent that they do not care who they are harming and hurting. The families and friends of those who pay the ultimate price for our freedoms suffer losses that are unimaginable for most of us. By trying to create in the general publics’ mind a sense of futility and fomenting hopelessness when it comes to the war, the public believes this after the continuous reporting of bad news when it comes to this war.

With that, they are doing a disservice to the relatives of the soldiers who have died by making it appear that it has been a waste of effort and therefore a useless death. What about those families who lost relatives among the soldiers who died under Bill Clinton? Their deaths were honorable?  Those among us old enough to remember the end of the Vietnam War know that the same tactics were used by the media in those years and it resulted in the returning soldiers to be mistreated and even spit on by people who thought that that war was a lost cause as well. It is shameful that the constitutionally guaranteed ‘Freedom of the Press’ is protecting the media’s agendas and biases in that they report on whatever they believe is worthy of reporting. They should report on everything that is happening in this country and the rest of the world and leave it up to us, the readers, to analyze it and form opinions on the facts. Let’s learn to think for ourselves and not accept at face value what the media says are our thoughts.

This article and others on Common Sense Authors are designed to provoke further thought and investigation.   It is not the intent for the articles to be politically biased. Sources are referenced in each article to encourage readers to delve into the supporting material.  We welcome all readers to participate with their point of view either in support or contrary with additional information sources.
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