From a reader:
To date there have been about 673 soldier fatalities (all coalition forces) from hostile action. Although there were about 300,000 coalition forces at the beginning of the war in Iraq, the number has averaged conservatively somewhere around 150,000 since. If you do the math, the fatality rate due to hostile action is less than 1/2 of 1%. I dare say, that had the Pentagon and George Bush guaranteed that rate to the New York Times in March 2003, reporters would have proclaimed them conquering heros and named their first born George. So why the disconnect in today’s reporting?. Well, do I really need to ask.