Why Are U.S. Troops So Hard To Kill? This post comes via Instapundit. I took the time to read the whole thing and its quite good. Two key graphs:
Since late 2001, there have been .12 American combat deaths per division day in Afghanistan. During the Vietnam war, the average division lost 3.2 troops a day, which was similar to the losses suffered in Korea (1950-53). In Iraq, the losses have been .44 deaths per division per day. By comparison, during World War II the daily losses per American averaged (over 400-500 combat days) about twenty soldiers per day.
The numbers are encouraging. The mainstream media, when it has reported this, contends its just great field medicine. But Strategy Page says it so much more:
So by any measure, U.S. troops have learned how to avoid getting hit. The reasons are better equipment, tactics, weapons, leadership and training than in the past. With an all-volunteer force, the troops are smarter and more physically fit than in the past. Many of the life-saving innovations U.S. troops have come up with in the past seven years have not gotten much publicity. Good news doesn't sell, but in this case, it has definitely saved lives.
Read it all.
