Not Mortal

I've blogged in the past about the tens of thousands of medevacs from Iraq.  Now we've apparently got a fuller accounting of the "non-mortal" butcher's bill:

Army    Navy    Marines    Air Force    Total
33,838  1,099   8,589      1,253        44,779

So all told there have been 48,000 American casualties in just this one of Bush's quagmires.  Astonishing.

Today on my drive home from Marlboro, I was scanning the radio stations and briefly caught Rush Limbaugh ranting about how James Baker had declared there would be no victory in Iraq--Oxyboy disagreed.  A little while later I snagged another talk show with some lady calling in, all upset about how the GOP isn't touting how tough they are on terror (and the "success" of Bush's laughable prescription drug plan, if you can believe that).

Astonishing.

ntodd

[Update: a few more related, disturbing news items:

• ABCNews: A Year After Returning From Iraq, Battered Marine Unit Still Adjusting to Civilian Life
• MercNews: Trauma of war follows vets home - HAUNTED BY COMBAT IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, TROOPS FIND HELP
• SFChron: Number of U.S. wounded highest since '04 - Hundreds last month; experts say it's more telling than death toll

It's a lovely fucking war...]