Tuesday, June 16, 2015

We killed HOW MANY? (part 3 of 4 War Questions)

So far we covered the financial cost of war and what happens when you let Bush and Cheney be in charge of stuff. 

"To kill a man is not to defend a doctrine, but to kill a man." - Michael Servetus

The numbers in this section, especially statistics from earlier wars are part record keeping, part extrapolation and definitely part special Department of Defense Math. 

I guess I have to retreat to the Fox standard. I’ll report, you decide and if you are still interested, the enormous reference list is at the end of the 4th section. 

"I hate it when they say, ‘He gave his life for his country.’ They don’t die for the honor and glory of their country. We kill them." -Rear Admiral Gene R. LaRocque

American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783)  

Population of the Thirteen Colonies 2.5 – 3 million

American Militia and Continental Army solders at the height of the war 80,000
American privateers (private ships and crew who attacked enemy ships on behalf of the government) 55,000
French soldiers 12,000

American Combat Deaths 8,000  
American Non-combat Deaths 17,000  
(Those are recorded deaths and the estimates go as high as 70,000. A slight difference, to be sure.)

British soldiers at the height of the war 56,000
Hessians (German mercenaries) at the height of the war 30,000

Total recorded British and German military deaths 24,000

"War doesn't make boys men, it makes men dead." - Ken Gillespie

American Civil War (1861 - 1848) 

Total Union Soldiers 2,213,363 
Combat Deaths 140,414 
Non-combat Deaths 224,097 

Total Confederate Soldiers 1,050,000 
Combat Deaths 94,524  
Non-combat Deaths 225,297  

Total Military Deaths 750,000

"They talk about conscription as a democratic institution. Yes; so is a cemetery." - Rep. Meyer London

Compared to all the other American military conflicts, the Civil War comprised 5% of the total American soldiers from 1775 to the present but also had more American military deaths than all other wars combined. 

"The first casualty of war is not truth, but perspective. Once that's gone, truth, like compassion, reason, and all the other virtues, wanders around like a wounded orphan." - Ente Grillenhaft

The Civil War is considered the first “Modern” war with technological advances in shooting and blowing up people. However it was still more likely to die from infection, disease, starvation and especially being captured as a prisoner of war.

World War I (1914 - 1918)  

Total American Soldiers 4,734,991 
Combat Deaths 52,402 
Non-combat Deaths 63,114  

Military Deaths World Wide 10 Million
Civilian Deaths World Wide 7 Million
Military Veterans permanently disabled 7 million

However, the flu epidemic of 1918 that spread with the end of WWI, killed 100 million people (3% of the global population). 

"Most wars are started by well-fed people with time on their hands to dream up half-baked ideologies or grandiose ambitions, and to nurse real or imagined grievances." - Thomas Sowell

World War II (1939 - 1945)  

Total American Soldiers 16,112,566 
US Combat Deaths 291,557 
US Non-combat Deaths 113,842  

More coming up about WWII. It was an unparalleled war for several reasons, none of them good.


Korean War (1950 - 1953)  

Total American Soldiers 5,720,000 
US Combat Deaths 2,835
US Non-combat Deaths 36,516

"Since the end of the World War II, the United States has fought three "small" wars...we lost all three of them and for the same reason--hubris." - Andrew Greely

Vietnam War (1964 - 1975)  

Total American Soldiers 8,744,000 
US Combat Deaths 47,434 
US Non-combat Deaths 10,780

9.7% of men in that generation are Vietnam veterans. 

"Vietnam should remind conservatives that whenever you put your faith in big government for any reason, sooner or later you wind up an apologist for mass murder."- Karl Hess

War on Terror (2001 - present)

Iraq 2003 - 2011 
US Service Member Combat Deaths 3,527 
US Service Member Non-combat Deaths 961

Almost all of those deaths occurred after the May 2003 "Mission Accomplished" speech. 

"The war on terrorism is akin to the war on drugs…unwinable, unless you kill everyone…or address the root causes." - K. W. Ibrahim

Iraqi Deaths due to US invasion 1,455,500

Afghan 2001 - present  
US Service Member Combat Deaths 1,845 
US Service Member Non-combat Deaths 510  

"The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments." - Michael Parenti

A few more numbers . . . 

Know what was the second most deadly war in global history?  

The Mongol Conquests (1206 - 1324)  
Estimated 40 - 70 million dead.

The third most deadly war in global history?  

The Kingdom Wars in China (184 - 280)  
Estimated 36 - 40 million dead.   

The most deadly war in history?  

"I guess every generation is doomed to fight its war...suffer the loss of the same old illusions, and learn the same old lessons on its own." - Phillip Caputo

WWII (1939 - 1945) 
80 million deaths world wide.
More than 50% of those deaths were civilians.

6 million Jewish deaths and 5 million non-Jewish deaths during the Holocaust. 

Japan (population 71 million) 
2 million military deaths 
1 million civilian deaths 

Germany (population 70 million) 
5.5 million military deaths 
4 million civilian deaths

China (population 517 million) 
3.5 million military deaths 
15 million civilian deaths 

"Every politician in the world is all for revolution, reason, and disarmament--but only in enemy countries, not in his own." - Hermann Hesse  

USSR (population 167 million) 
13 million military deaths
18 million civilian deaths 

Soviet deaths during the battle of Stalingrad
1 million military deaths and 1 million civilian deaths

More Soviets (1.5 million military and civilians) lost their lives during the Siege of Leningrad than did American and British soldiers combined in all of WWII.  

80% of Soviet males born in 1923 didn’t survive WWII. 

"Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." - Abraham Lincoln 

Deaths during the Atlantic Slave Trade 

2.2 million Africans died before they reached the Americas.
5 million Africans died in "seasoning camps" in the Caribbean.
10 million Africans survived beyond that point.   

"I have yet to make the acquaintance of that officer of the army who, in time of undisturbed peace, desired a war with the Indians. On the contrary, the army is the Indian's best friend so long as the latter desires to maintain friendship." - George Custer

Native American Deaths

Population of 50 million reduced to 1.8 million or 96%  fatality rate. 


Wars in the Congo (1998 - 2003) 2.5 - 5.5 million  

Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815) 3.5 - 6 million 

Russian Civil War (1917 - 1922) 5 - 9 million

Soviet Deaths under Stalin approximately 25 million 

Chinese Deaths under Mao Zedong 78 million

"The truth is that neither British nor American imperialism was or is idealistic. It has always been driven by economic or strategic interests." - Charley Reese

Indian Deaths under British rule (1757 - 1947) 1.8 Billion.

8 million starved in the famine of 1870’s when they were forced to grow cash crop.

"After each war there is a little less democracy left to save." - Brooks Atkinson 

Did you miss the prior post on who was paid taxpayer money?

Up next is the treatment of vets.


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