Thursday 3 January 2013

Afghanistan is an Afghanistan Tragedy.


The Labour MP Paul Flynn, one of the few Independent MPs has pointed out that 617 British lives may have been lost to serve the interests of US Defence industry.  and its a good report: But he was taken to task by Olaf Cai Larson o blogmenai  who commented in his own  blog but also on Paul's blog.
Paul - I agree with much that you say in your blog - but it verges on the obscene to publicize the only British soldiers to death. A great many people have died in this war, and their lives are all equivalent.
Paul acknowledge this; But it does point that even those who tend to  look at only at  the deaths of Westerners in these conflicts which we are currently involved in .

Take Vietnam:

It estimated that the Army of the Republic of Vietnam  (the South) lost between 219,000 and 313,000 troops between 1959 and 1975

The  estimate of  North Vietnamese combatant deaths is estimated to about 1,011,00

The Number of US lost in action was 58,282 

The Vietnamese government have stated in 1995 that a total of 2,000,000 Vietnamese civilians 

The current population of Vietnam  is 90,388,000 compared with the US 315,045,000 ie 


And yet the unbinding image of this conflict  ids the Vietnam Walls





If Vietnam were to have a similar Wall in Vietnam .Just of the Northern and Viet Cing combatants killed it would be 122 times bigger.

And in Media films which  have an anti-war element like Full Metal Jacket, Platoon  and Born on the Fourth of July  tend to show it a tragedy for America, and not a tragedy for Vietnam.

And we must not in these current conflicts only reflect on our own loses tragic and unnecessary as they  are but show the true story that our involvement in Afghanistan and other Far Eastern Countries has solved nothing .

2 comments:

Colwyn said...

There's a typo in your numbers. The total number of US soldiers killed in Vietnam was 58,209. 26 per day.

glynbeddau said...

Thanks Colwyn yes a typo.I have corrected it. A High number but still not comparable with Vietnamese deaths