Whites account for most of military's fatalities
Tony Perry:
The majority of soldiers and Marines killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were young, white, enlisted personnel from active-duty units, according to a study released Friday by the federal Government Accountability Office.
The demographic study involved 1,841 service personnel who were killed and 12,658 who were wounded, as of May 28.
Whites, who constitute 67% of the active-duty and reserve forces, accounted for 71% of the fatalities. African Americans are 17% of the overall force and were 9% of the fatalities. Hispanics are 9% of the force and were 10% of the fatalities.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are 3% of the force and were 3% of the fatalities. American Indian/Alaskan Natives are 1% in each category. The race of the remaining fatalities was listed as "multiple or unknown."
For whites, the percentage of deaths was the lowest since the Defense Department began keeping such statistics. In Korea, 80% of fatalities were white, in Vietnam, 86%, and in the Persian Gulf War, 76%.
The statistical report was requested by Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.). The majority of the report deals with a racial breakdown of U.S. forces by job category and rank for each of the services.
Skelton and Rangel wanted the report to further discussion of the nation's all-volunteer approach to military service.
Rangel has suggested the nation may need to return to a draft so that the burden of military service in wartime is equally shared.
Looks like Rangel won't be able to use these statistics as another excuse for playing the race card.
Race Relations: The Myth Of The Military Model
Rangel Blasts Clinton as 'a Redneck'
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Rangel: Bush Iraq 'Fraud' as Bad as Holocaust
Class warfare
Rangel Should Resign
posted by Adam Lawson @ 12:27 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Speaking of combat deaths, more than "most", it was a disproportionate share, at least according to a survey from earlier this year. (Since whites still comprise "most" of the population of the US, you'd sort of expect them to be incurring "most" of the combat casualties, unless non-whites -- "minorities" -- were disproportionately represented among the frontline troops.) Of course that kind of factual refutation did not, and in general does not, get the same kind of attention as provably untrue claims that non-whites are suffering a disproportionate share of the (combat) deaths.
I have heard that non-whites are disproportionately represented in the support ranks, and Iraq has produced a relatively large number of support troop casualties (long supply convoys across hostile territory) when compared to other conflicts.
But as for Iraq combat casualties, they've been disproportionately white.
Of course they are all terribly sad.
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