NationStates Jolt Archive

In a county of less than 50,000, two deaths in Iraq is about 20 times the national average where 600 have died out of almost 300 million. I heard that rural areas are suffering losses out of proportion to their populations all over the country due to the fact that the military is made up of a large percentage of rural people as well as ethnic minorities, because both suffer from a lack of economic opportunities. any thoughts on the subject?


Rest in peace Army Spc. Sean R. Mitchell and Army Spc. Micheal T. Gleason. Warren County Pennsylvania mourns your loss and honors your sacrifice for your country.

That does make sense.

Rest in peace.

God bless them.

there sacrifices will not be in vain,they are true American hero's :cry:

get our troops out now so more people dont have to die. Let the Iraqi's kill eachother...they never had the ability to kill US till we gave it too until we gave them the oppertunity... so let the sacrifice of the troops guide the living to safety...god bless the dead and god save the living. :cry:

Meh.

Meh.
*hick*

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!' Then commence the bombing again.

In a county of less than 50,000, two deaths in Iraq is about 20 times the national average where 600 have died out of almost 300 million. I heard that rural areas are suffering losses out of proportion to their populations all over the country due to the fact that the military is made up of a large percentage of rural people as well as ethnic minorities, because both suffer from a lack of economic opportunities. any thoughts on the subject?


Rest in peace Army Spc. Sean R. Mitchell and Army Spc. Micheal T. Gleason. Warren County Pennsylvania mourns your loss and honors your sacrifice for your country.You're going to be pelted by insensitive comments from the forum idiots, but just ignore them. My condolences.

-Ryan Wilson, a United States Sailor

That does make sense.


I don't know much about the numbers,but I beleive what he is trying to tell
you is that most citizens in the American military are
1 from rural areas(many from middle and southern states)
2 many are ethnic minorites who join the military because they can't find work



:cry: I'm sorry to here this loss

:evil: Things happen in this world of ours,and good people suffer for it.

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!'
Or they would be partying in the streets.

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!'
Or they would be partying in the streets.

We would be bombing remember?

That does make sense.


I don't know much about the numbers,but I beleive what he is trying to tell
you is that most citizens in the American military are
1 from rural areas(many from middle and southern states)
2 many are ethnic minorites who join the military because they can't find work



:cry: I'm sorry to here this loss

:evil: Things happen in this world of ours,and good people suffer for it.Ummm, no. The majority of the US military is white. And being as the big cities hold a huge chunk of our poulation, I believe most Sailors/Marines/Pilots/Soldiers come from there.

Meh.
*hick*

Well it isn't the first time US personal have died there. Don't you remember that chopper that was shot down killing all 9 on board at the start of the invasion?

And was that meant to be a kick?

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!'
Or they would be partying in the streets.

We would be bombing remember?What's that I hear in the distance? Oh no! It's a stampede of stupidity and hatred!

get our troops out now so more people dont have to die. Let the Iraqi's kill eachother...they never had the ability to kill US till we gave it too until we gave them the oppertunity... so let the sacrifice of the troops guide the living to safety...god bless the dead and god save the living. :cry:


But regardless of whether the war was just, can we morally walk away at this point and let Iraq spiral into chaos and civil war. We made the choice now we need to see it through to some reasonable conclusion. We owe it to the Iraqis who have stepped forward to build a new nation, and to those who have already died believing they were fighting for a just cause.

To leave now would be the worst form of cowardism. Would the world look on in sadness and disgust as the last chopper left the desperate mob on the top of the American Embassy in Bagdad a few months down the road?

Meh.
*hick*

Well it isn't the first time US personal have died there. Don't you remember that chopper that was shot down killing all 9 on board at the start of the invasion?

And was that meant to be a kick?
*hick*
Nope. Don't remember. Wasn't that importand.

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!'
Or they would be partying in the streets.

We would be bombing remember?What's that I hear in the distance? Oh no! It's a stampede of stupidity and hatred!

I had a funny comment but my finger is still stuck in this padlock.

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!'
Or they would be partying in the streets.

We would be bombing remember?
Well. If your going to bomb make sure that there are US troops in place to keep the crowds where they are.

Meh.
*hick*

Well it isn't the first time US personal have died there. Don't you remember that chopper that was shot down killing all 9 on board at the start of the invasion?

And was that meant to be a kick?
*hick*
Nope. Don't remember. Wasn't that importand.

Then compare that situation to this one and you'll realise that this is even less important.

Downer.

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!'
Or they would be partying in the streets.

We would be bombing remember?What's that I hear in the distance? Oh no! It's a stampede of stupidity and hatred!

I had a funny comment but my finger is still stuck in this padlock.What?

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!'
Or they would be partying in the streets.

We would be bombing remember?What's that I hear in the distance? Oh no! It's a stampede of stupidity and hatred!

I had a funny comment but my finger is still stuck in this padlock.What?

My finger is stuck in a padlock and I can't it off.

If I was president and some point I would snap and withdraw all the troops and the Iraqis would be all, 'Don't leave! We need you!'
Or they would be partying in the streets.

We would be bombing remember?What's that I hear in the distance? Oh no! It's a stampede of stupidity and hatred!

I had a funny comment but my finger is still stuck in this padlock.What?

My finger is stuck in a padlock and I can't it off.

The padlock is the whole PC sense of humour that really isn't humour.

Meh.
*hick*

Well it isn't the first time US personal have died there. Don't you remember that chopper that was shot down killing all 9 on board at the start of the invasion?

And was that meant to be a kick?
*hick*
Nope. Don't remember. Wasn't that importand.

Then compare that situation to this one and you'll realise that this is even less important.

Downer.
Yes. I know. I just can't sleep right now. Maybe in a few minutes.

My finger is stuck in a padlock and I can't it off.
The padlock is the whole PC sense of humour that really isn't humour.

What the hell are you talking 'bout Edge?

Nov. 21, 2003, 10:04PM
By BILL BISHOP (Houston Chronicle)

COAHOMA High School guidance counselor Cheryl Green doesn't need to check her files to know that 10 percent of the school's senior class is entering the military after graduation. It was 10 percent last year. And 10 percent the year before that.

Coahoma is a tiny cotton and oil town of approximately 900 people in West Texas. Ten percent of the high school senior class totals six kids. But over the years the numbers add up, and today 48 men and women from Coahoma are on active military duty. So far, one Coahoma graduate has died in Iraq.

The whole country may be at war, but the whole country isn't doing the fighting. In today's all-volunteer military, places like Coahoma appear to be overrepresented. They are sending their young off to die in Iraq at more than twice the rate of the nation's metropolitan centers.

The U.S. military doesn't publish data on recruits' hometowns. But several months ago, Robert Cushing, a statistical consultant and a retired University of Texas sociologist, began tracking the home counties of those who died in Iraq. Cushing found dramatic differences in casualty rates between urban and rural areas: The smaller the county's population, the higher the death rate.

A quarter of the nation's military-age men come from counties of more than 1 million, and a quarter come from counties with populations of less than 100,000. Yet look at the figures from Iraq. As of Nov. 9, 67 soldiers from the more populous counties had died. But 127 soldiers from the smaller counties had lost their lives. (Because only eight female soldiers have died in Iraq, Cushing has confined his data to men.)

If deaths in Iraq were spread evenly across the United States, 53 soldiers from counties of fewer than 50,000 would have died. As of a week ago, the death toll for mostly rural counties stood at 80.

The pattern stands out even in one incident. Sixteen soldiers died when a Chinook helicopter was shot down on Nov. 2. Two came from counties of a million or more: Texas' Harris County and San Diego. Eight were from counties of fewer than 100,000, ranging from Orangeburg County in South Carolina (pop. 92,582) to diminutive York County, Neb. (pop. 14,598).

Military historians can't point to any similar study of the hometowns of soldiers during the Vietnam War, when there was a draft. The best evidence before Iraq comes from the University of Chicago's General Social Survey which, in surveys conducted from the 1970s through the mid-'90s, found no difference in the military enlistment rates of those from small towns or farms and those from cities with more than 250,000 people. The toll of rural dead in Iraq appears to be a new phenomenon.

The pattern appearing in the news releases announcing the dead in Iraq -- urban blacks and Hispanics, rural whites -- has prompted Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., to renew their call for a reinstatement of the draft. Rangel two weeks ago sent a letter requesting a General Accounting Office study, in part to examine the geographic disparity in military deaths. "Congress must address the question of who is carrying the military burden," Rangel wrote, "and whether all segments of the American society are carrying a fair share of the load."

In 1999, Loyola University political scientist John Allen Williams wrote that "Americans may love their military, but it is in the same way they might love their Rottweiler: They are happy enough for the protection but do not want to become one themselves." To many Americans, he added, military life is "as unfathomable as life on another planet."

In the politically polarized America of today, there are unmistakably two planets. There's the planet that watches the war on television and debates the merits of an $87 billion appropriation, and then there's the planet that sends its kids to Afghanistan and Iraq -- the planet of places like Coahoma.

My finger is stuck in a padlock and I can't it off.
The padlock is the whole PC sense of humour that really isn't humour.

What the hell are you talking 'bout Edge?

Its the whole don't make jokes about minorities or any sensitive topic.

My finger is stuck in a padlock and I can't it off.
The padlock is the whole PC sense of humour that really isn't humour.

What the hell are you talking 'bout Edge?

Its the whole don't make jokes about minorities or any sensitive topic.

...what? I'm sorry I'm still not quite sure I grasp the concept.

My finger is stuck in a padlock and I can't it off.
The padlock is the whole PC sense of humour that really isn't humour.

What the hell are you talking 'bout Edge?

Its the whole don't make jokes about minorities or any sensitive topic.I see... Somehow I don't find that padlock comment funny, even though I understand it. I guess I'll just never be geeky enough to understand this kind of stuff. I'm too much of a jock. Now football, that I understand.

My finger is stuck in a padlock and I can't it off.
The padlock is the whole PC sense of humour that really isn't humour.

What the hell are you talking 'bout Edge?

Its the whole don't make jokes about minorities or any sensitive topic.I see... Somehow I don't find that padlock comment funny, even though I understand it. I guess I'll just never be geeky enough to understand this kind of stuff. I'm too much of a jock. Now football, that I understand.

Well there was a padlock stuff on my finger. I'm dead serious about that.

October 29, 2003
Rural Update
RURAL AMERICANS BEARING LARGE BURDEN IN

IRAQ AND IN WAR ON TERRORISM, SAYS SKELTON


Congressman Ike Skelton (D-MO) today paid tribute to the sacrifices of U.S.
service members from rural America. Skelton noted that a great proportion
of those who have died during their service in the Iraq War and in the
Global War on Terrorism have homes and families in small town, rural
America.

"I've noticed through the years that young people from small town, rural
America have joined the Armed Forces in large numbers. People from rural
America tend to be especially patriotic and have found a multitude of career
opportunities available in the military," said Skelton.

"Although the contributions and sacrifices of all service members are
valuable beyond measure, I cannot help but be struck by the fact that rural
American families are bearing a large share of the burden that enables our
country to meet security commitments at home and abroad," said Skelton.

Using Department of Defense casualty figures updated through October 24,
2003, Skelton found that 43.5 percent of the service members killed during
Operation Iraqi Freedom and 46.4 percent of the service members killed
during Operation Enduring Freedom hail from rural cities and towns with a
population below 20,000.


An analysis conducted in early October by statistician Robert Cushing and
reported by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper found that those who
died in Iraq were 39 percent more likely than the nation as a whole to live
in counties with fewer than 100,000 people. They were 16 percent more
likely than the nation as a whole to live in a county with lower than
average levels of college education and 16 percent more likely to live in
counties with below average incomes.

"America's young people are our greatest national resource and our most
valuable asset. I hope that all of America's sons and daughters continue to
join our military, because they are brought up to work hard, to be good
neighbors, to be generous, and to be patriotic. But I also hope that every
part of American society will understand that military service is a
responsibility that requires the contributions of citizens from all walks of
life," said Skelton.





Congressman Ike Skelton (D-MO) serves as Ranking Democrat on the House Armed
Services Committee. For further information, please contact Lara Battles or
Whitney Frost at (202)225-2876, or check Congressman Skelton's web site at
http://www.house.gov/skelton.




Iraqi Freedom Soldiers KIA (Hometown Populations)


Population Range Total


0 - 1,000 34


1,000 - 10,000 73


10,000 - 20,000 39


20,000 - 30,000 20


30,000 - 40,000 18


40,000 - 50,000 11


50,000 - 60,000 10


60,000 - 70,000 5


70,000 - 80,000 9


80,000 - 90,000 5


90,000 - 100,000 5


100,000 - above 107


TOTAL 336


4 soldiers from American Territories

Rural Population 0 - 20,000 : 43.5% of all soldiers killed during Operation
Iraqi Freedom *


*Information as of October 24, 2003


______________________________________________________________________


Enduring Freedom Soldiers KIA (Hometown Populations)


Population Range # of KIA
Soldiers


0 - 1,000 14


1,000 - 10,000 14


10,000 - 20,000 11


20,000 - 30,000 4


30,000 - 40,000 2


40,000 - 50,000 5


50,000 - 60,000 8


60,000 - 70,000 0


70,000 - 80,000 1


80,000 - 90,000 0


90,000 - 100,000 0


100,000 - above 25


TOTAL 84



3 soldiers from American Territories


Rural Population 0 - 20,000 : 46.4% of all soldiers killed during Operation
Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan and Philippines)*


*Information as of October 24, 2003

That does make sense.


I don't know much about the numbers,but I beleive what he is trying to tell
you is that most citizens in the American military are
1 from rural areas(many from middle and southern states)
2 many are ethnic minorites who join the military because they can't find work



:cry: I'm sorry to here this loss

:evil: Things happen in this world of ours,and good people suffer for it.Ummm, no. The majority of the US military is white. And being as the big cities hold a huge chunk of our poulation, I believe most Sailors/Marines/Pilots/Soldiers come from there.

but it was my understanding that the armed serviceshas the the largest number of minorities (porportionatly) in positions that order around whites

My finger is stuck in a padlock and I can't it off.
The padlock is the whole PC sense of humour that really isn't humour.

What the hell are you talking 'bout Edge?

Its the whole don't make jokes about minorities or any sensitive topic.I see... Somehow I don't find that padlock comment funny, even though I understand it. I guess I'll just never be geeky enough to understand this kind of stuff. I'm too much of a jock. Now football, that I understand.

I wasn't refering to the padlock as a joke, more a metaphor as to how up tight you are when it came to the original joke.

i can only find 9 soldiers from new york city who have died in iraq, approximately 1 for every 800,000 people. in warren county its 1 for every 24,000 or so. so while we are losing people at 20 times the rate of the nation we are losing them at 32 times the rate of the big apple.