Attention all pacifists. Iraq is not Vietnam. Nope, not by a long shot. Let me hit you with some stats. Here’s the reality check for you “too many Americans are dying everyday” types. These are the facts from a reliable source as they stood at the beginning of June.

The Vietnam War lasted 12 years, through three presidencies and cost between 56,000 and 58,000 lives. We’ve just crossed the 3,500 mark after 4 years, 3 months of this war. Keep in mind KIA (Killed In Action) figures include accidents, heart attacks, etc., which is only right, given the stress servicemembers are under; they’re all war related deaths and are treated accordingly. Basic math suggests our current death rate will be 1/5 that of the Vietnam War, although there is no correlating indication that the intelligence level or leadership skills of our elected officials has risen by the same amount.

I especially like the second part of that last sentence (LOL)! So will all of you in the dropping-like-flies crowd please get a grip on reality. O.K., I’m jumping off the soap box and on to sources. Check the link from Iraq Coalition Casualty Count which is tracking all manner of statistics. Like all things mathematical you have to understand the terms you hear and read. So when you see and hear of the more than 25 thousand American casualties that’s wounded personell only. The number of actual American deaths is only just over 3,500 so don’t go around talking in ignorance about how the government is lying about the death rate on the battle field. Understand the terminology and be truthfully informed.