More Information on the Walking Wounded and the Costs of War

According to Foreign Policy in Focus (May 9, 2008):

"...The Pentagon regularly reports on the numbers of American troops "wounded" in Iraq (currently at 31,948) but neglects to mention that it has two other categories "injured" (10,180) and "ill" (28,451). All three of these categories represent soldiers who are so damaged physically they have to be medically evacuated to Germany for treatment, but by splitting the numbers up the sense of casualties down the public consciousness."

"287,790 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans "filed a disability claim with the Veterans Administration as of March 25th [2008]. That figure was not announced to the public at a news conference, but obtained by Veterans for Common Sense using the Freedom of Information Act."

"According to an April 2008 study by the Rand Corporation, 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans currently suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or major depression. Another 320,000 suffer from traumatic brain injury, physical brain damage. A majority are not receiving help from the Pentagon and VA system which are more concerned with concealing unpleasant facts than they are with providing care."