It's All bout the Spin.

My brother David is an avid follower of internet news. He also forwards tons of e-mail. Most of its interesting, some of it leaning a little to the right even for my taste.

I thought this was worth posting though. As with all e-mail claims, I try to do a little research to see if the author is accurate, and for the most part, this thing seems to be sincere. The "actual casualty figures" are from InfoPlease.com, which cites the U.S. Department of Defense and Veteran's Administration for the figures.

****************** e-mail start
There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of January, 2004..... In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January. That's just one American city, about as deadly to American's as the entire war torn country of Iraq.

When some claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war, state the following:

FDR...
-led us into World War II.
-Germany never attacked us: Japan did.
-from 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.
(Actual casualty figures:
Combat: 291,557
Non-combat (theater): - not listed
Non-combat (non-theater): 113,842
Total: 291,557 war theater caualties - still almost 75 ,000 deaths each year)

Truman...
-finished WWII and started a new war in Korea
-North Korea never attacked us.
-From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,334 per year.
(Actual casualty figures:
Combat: 33,741
Non-combat (theater): 2,827
Non-combat (nontheater):17,730
Total: 37,568 war theater casualties- still over 9,000 deaths each year.)

John F. Kennedy...
-got the USA into the Vietnam conflict in 1962.
-Vietnam never attacked us.

Johnson...
-turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
-Vietnam never attacked us.
-From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.
(Actual casualty figures:
Combat:47,410
Non-combat (theater) 10,789
Non-combat (non-theater) 32,000
Total: 58,199 war theater casualties- 5,800 a year is just about right )

Clinton...
-went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent.
-Bosnia never attacked us.
-He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing.
-Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

In the two years since terrorists attacked us,

President Bush has...
-liberated two countries,
-crushed the Taliban,
-crippled al-Qaida,
-put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot
-and captured a terrorist (Hussein) who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.
(In fairness, I have to list Iraq War totals:
March 20, 2003–Aug. 2, 2004:
Combat: 677;
Non-combat (theater): 235;
Total: 912 war theater casualties- about 700 deaths each year)

The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but...
- It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51 day operation.
- We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find her Rose Law Firm billing records.
- It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick, drowning Mary Jo.
- It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!

Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!
The Military morale is high!
The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts.
PASS IT ON.

(If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.)
************


Food for thought.
It's all about the spin, baby.