US Causalities in Iraq: MSM cognitive dissonance

The Commissar has a good point about some of the problems the press is having when the numbers do not agree with their talking points about the war in Iraq.

I try to avoid ranting about the distortions of the MSM, but could not let this one pass. The author’s main point: “the average rate at which U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq has significantly fallen, the but the rates at which they are being wounded have dramatically increased.” wholly misrepresents the facts.

Under any ordinary definition of the word, Martin Sieff is lying. Viewed over any reasonable time frame (months), U.S. wounded are significantly down.

As always, you need to read the whole thing.

He includes a graph of the wounded:

High res here.

And I managed to get a different one that tell the story of those killed:

I don't like the whole body-count habit, but if the press is going to bring it up - they need to tell a fair story.

NB: FEB/MAR is historically a low point in wounded and killed. We should see a rise in APR/MAY. It is the long-term trend line, and The Commissar is right - wounded tell a more accurate story - that is important. If we do not see the deaths/wounded rise like we did last year as the warm weather comes - the "Iraq issue" may not be as big of a player for the Democrats this fall as they think.