Lying With Statistics

I recently received the following e-mail:

You know how the Democrats castigate George Bush for the military deaths in Iraq?

Did you know that some 4,417 soldiers died -- in peacetime -- from
1993-1996? I believe that about 3,100 soldiers have died in Iraq so far.

Sort of lends some perpective, doesn't it?

The e-mail cites this blog.

The thing about this is that there's a difference between the total number of soldiers who died and the total who died in military conflict.

More specifically, if you download the PDF at: http://www.murdoconline.net/pics/Death_Rates.pdf -- a pdf which is cited at the url above -- you'll find an interesting result-- a total of 5,187 soldiers dying JUST from 2001-2004.

Furthermore, from 1993-1996, you get 237 military deaths due to hostile action.

From 2001-2004, you get 1,102.

Funny how the e-mail didn't include that information.