Injuries To Troops In Iraq At Higher % Than Vietnam

Last month saw the number of injured troops in Iraq climb to an almost two year high. The most since the battle for Fallujah. And this month has already seen 300 injured, almost half way to the 776 in September. So what does that mean in the big picture?

(WaPo)More than 20,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in combat in the Iraq war, and about half have returned to duty. While much media reporting has focused on the more than 2,700 killed, military experts say the number of wounded is a more accurate gauge of the fierceness of fighting because advances in armor and medical care today allow many service members to survive who would have perished in past wars. The ratio of wounded to killed among U.S. forces in Iraq is about 8 to 1, compared with 3 to 1 in Vietnam.

"These days, wounded are a much better measure of the intensity of the operations than killed," said Anthony H. Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

So, what are you trying to say?