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The US Armed Forces, like the armies of most states, have repeatedly participated in local wars and armed conflicts outside their territory.
No matter how well the soldiers are trained, they can’t held combat actions without losses. And the greater the conflict, the greater the loss.
American society is very sensitive to the death of its soldiers abroad. This may result in negative results of the election campaigns of politicians, a reduction in the financing of certain programs and other consequences. In particular, one of the reasons for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq was not a victory over the Islamists, but a negative reaction of the society to numerous losses.
In the first half of the twentieth century, military casualties were perceived by Americans as a common thing. For example, during the Second World War, the United States lost 418 thousand people killed, just under 700 thousand were injured and 130 thousand were considered prisoners of war. And society accepted these losses and considered them not in vain.
However, today the attitude of the population towards the death of their soldiers abroad has changed dramatically. Now the death of soldiers is regarded as a sign of the weakness of the government, regardless of the circumstances. And the approach to war became different. On the principle: we can kill, but they can’t kill us.
There is a certain limit of permissible losses, which are relatively calmly accepted by society. For example, during the war in Korea in the 50s of the last century, from 300 to 480 thousand American soldiers were transferred to the peninsula. At the same time, official losses amounted to 37,904 military personnel killed, captured and missing.
During the conflict in Vietnam, according to various estimates, up to 60 thousands of American soldiers died. Losses in this war dramatically affected the domestic political situation in the country. As soon as US citizens realized the amount of military casualties, disagreements grew sharply over government actions. Statements about mediocre war with heavy losses appeared in society.
Based on the results of the Vietnam conflict, an adjustment was made to the US foreign policy, the value orientations of average Americans, and domestic social policy. This does not mean that America abandoned its foreign policy with the use of armed forces. But. It was forbidden to the militaries to gain heavy losses. Sociologists defined a certain “death quota” that could affect the mood in society and cause anti-war protests. Since then, real losses have been carefully concealed.
For example, during the seven years of the Iraq war from 2003 to 2010, according to official figures, 4,423 US troops were killed and 31,942 were injured. At the same time, according to the US Office of Veterans Affairs, in the Iraq conflict, the United States lost 73 thousand people killed.
During military operation in Yugoslavia in 1999, Congress established an official quota of one hundred people.
The current US Armed Forces operation in Iraq is not exception. After the retaliatory strike, in response to the assassination by the Americans of General Qasem Soleimani, who fell at US bases in Iraq, the Pentagon immediately declared that there were no casualties. “Not a single American was hurt, all of our troops are safe. No one was hurt because of the early warning system, neither Americans nor Iraqis”, said Donald Trump in an address to the nation.
Two weeks later, nevertheless, they reported on several victims who received traumatic brain injuries. But the Pentagon tried not to advertise this fact, so as not to frighten the public. Meanwhile, the Iran General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that “nine American planes evacuated the wounded to bases in Israel, Jordan and to one of the hospitals in Baghdad.”
Americans hide the losses in any of their military adventures. They prefer only a beautiful pictures of victories – against the background of a star-striped flag. Which then cover the coffins with the bodies of dead soldiers. They prefer not to show these.
Authorship: Vitaliy Timoschuk
Source: WolneMedia.net
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