Military Deaths Didn't Increase Much Under Bush (Updated)

By DemocracyRules

h/t Tracy -- Thanks for pointing out some serious errors in my previous numbers! False data are circulating on the Internet.  The ones I show here have been double-checked.

These data disprove the argument that George Bush Jr. has recklessly caused high US military deaths.

Demographically, the US military deaths in the Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts are very small.  There was only a small increase in total US military deaths as a result of those wars.

Of course deaths have occurred in those war theaters, but at the same time the military has worked hard to reduce non-combat deaths.

Here are the annual fatalities, by any cause, of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2007:

1980     2,392     (Carter)
1981     2,380     (Reagan)
1982     2,319     (Reagan)   
1983     2,465     (Reagan)
1984     1,999     (Reagan)
1985     2,252     (Reagan)
1986     1,984     (Reagan)
1987     1,983     (Reagan)
1988     1,819     (Reagan)
1989     1,636     (George H W Bush)
1990     1,507     (George H W Bush)
1991     1,787     (George H W Bush)
1992     1,293     (George H W Bush)
1993     1,213     (Clinton)
1994     1,075     (Clinton)
1995     1,040     (Clinton)
1996        974     (Clinton)
1997        817     (Clinton)
1998        827     (Clinton)
1999        796     (Clinton)
2000        758     (Clinton)
2001        891     (George W Bush)
2002        999     (George W Bush)
2003     1,228     (George W Bush)
2004     1,874     (George W Bush)
2005     1,942     (George W Bush)
2006     1,858     (George W Bush)
2007     1,950     (George W Bush)

Pdf files here Download RL32492 and here  Death_Rates

US military deaths per year, for 4 Presidents:       
(Reagan)                    2,150
(George H W Bush)    1,556
(Clinton)                        938
(George W Bush)        1,535

At the peak of the Iraq war, I said the death rates were extremely small compared to almost every previous war.  The soldiers were so careful and professional, it was more like dental work than warfare.

I also said if the soldiers were not in Iraq, they would be somewhere else training for war.  Iraq and Afghanistan are far better training grounds than any war game exercise.

Accidents and deaths happen in the military, even in peacetime.  War is terrible, but freedom is never free.

Pro Patria

Comments

[Tracy]

This was debunked last year:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/deaths.asp

Second, If you'd actually go to page 11 of the document cited in the original blog post (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf), you'll see that these numbers you posted aren't even correct numbers.

Wasn't it a certain Republican president who said "Trust, but verify?"

[Insult deleted]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{From DR- Dear Tracy. Thanks for the tip. I corrected the data so it is now accurate.

Pro Patria}

[Claudia]

One thing that shows up in that post is the strikingly small numbers of deaths during the Clinton years,..... could that "possibly" be because Clinton desciminated our Military soooo much by cutting funding that there were no war practices or skirmish events going on that our Soldiers were involved in? I seem to remember that he tried to reduce our Military to almost nothing during his time in office, so the only men that got KIA were those on Embassy Posts or in ships like the one in Yemen and virtually defenseless at the time, with not much of a strong military backup to portect them.

1993 1,213 (Clinton)
1994 1,075 (Clinton)
1995 1,040 (Clinton)
1996 974 (Clinton)
1997 817 (Clinton)
1998 827 (Clinton)
1999 796 (Clinton)
2000 758 (Clinton)