Gulf War

:See also: Iraq War and Gulf War (disambiguation)

Casualties

Casualties During the War

Gulf War casualty numbers are controversial. Coalition military deaths have been reported to be around 378, but the DoD reports that US forces suffered 147 battle-related and 325 non-battle-related deaths. The UK suffered 24 deaths, the Arab countries lost 39 men (18 Saudis, 10 Egyptians, 6 from the UAE, 3 Syrians, and 1 Kuwaiti), and France lost 2 men. The largest single loss of Coalition forces happened on February 25, 1991, when an Iraqi Scud missile hit an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania. The number of coalition wounded seems to have been less than 1,000.

Related Topics:
February 25 - 1991 - Iraqi - Scud missile - Dhahran - Saudi Arabia - U.S. Army Reservists - Pennsylvania

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Before the war Pentagon officials were estimating 30,000-40,000 coalition causalities. The Dupuy Institute stood alone and in front of Congress predicted Coalition Casualties below 6,000. They used the TNDM model which makes use of historical data from previous wars to predict causalities. While the Institute was phenomenally accurate; it was because the Iraqi armed forces fought in the open dessert with tanks placed behind Sand berms. Had the Iraqi military made use of Urban warfare in Kuwait city and dug their tanks in within the city perimeters instead of behind Sand berms the actual figures may have been different. The TNDM model makes use of 'human' factors such as morale and they predicted that very few Iraqi divisions would put up resistance. This is a value judgment that is impossible to make accurately before war. 120,000 professional Iraqi soldiers backed by 4,500 tanks, 4,000 armored vehicles and 3,000 artillery pieces and with another 280,000 conscripted soldiers armed with RPG's, heavy mortars and heavy machines guns ensured that less than 6,000 coalition Causalities was not inevitable. In fact to expect less than 6,000 Coalition causalities faced again with a similar situation is ludicrous. The 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq have aptly demonstrated how great causalities can be inflicted by a technologically inferior force which utilizes urban environment for concealment and cover against precise artillery and air strikes. It has demonstrated how Urban warfare blunts the greatest advantage of the Coalition, long distance killing. The 1,400 Coalition deaths and 4,600 crippled Coalition troops in post invasion Iraq is a sharp rejoinder that commitment by 20,000 Individuals armed with Machine guns, RPG's and mortars can cause large causalities. 120,000 committed soldiers backed by modern equipment can and should be expected to cause large causalities on the order of several thousand; the fact that it did not happen in the Gulf War is no guarantee that it will not happen in the future.

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Independent analysts generally agree the Iraqi death toll was well below initial post-war estimates. In the immediate aftermath of the war, these estimates ranged as high as 100,000 Iraqi troops killed and 300,000 wounded. According to "Gulf War Air Power Survey" by Thomas A. Keaney and Eliot A. Cohen, (a report commissioned by the U.S. Air Force; 1993-ISBN 0-16-041950-6), there were an estimated 10-12,000 Iraqi combat deaths in the air campaign and as many as 10,000 casualties in the ground war. This analysis is based on enemy prisoner of war reports. The Iraqi government claimed that 2,300 civilians died during the air campaign.

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One infamous incident during the war highlighted the question of large-scale Iraqi combat deaths. This was the `bulldozer assault' in which two brigades from the U.S. 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) used anti-mine plows mounted on tanks and combat earthmovers to bury Iraqi soldiers defending the fortified "Saddam Line." While approximately 2,000 of the troops surrendered, escaping burial, one newspaper story reported that the U.S. commanders estimated thousands of Iraqi soldiers had been buried alive during the two-day assault February 24-25, 1991. However, like all other troop estimates made during the war, the estimated 8,000 Iraqi defenders was probably greatly inflated. While one commander, Col. Anthony Moreno of the 2nd Brigade, thought the numbers might have been in the thousands, another reported his brigade buried between 80 and 250 Iraqis. After the war, the Iraqi government claimed to have found 44 such bodies. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/appendix/death.html

Related Topics:
Bulldozer - U.S. 1st Infantry Division - Tank - Anthony Moreno - 2nd Brigade

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The Post-War Effects of Depleted Uranium

In 1998, Saddam government doctors reported that Coalition use of depleted uranium caused a massive increase in birth defects and cancer among Iraqis, particularly leukemia. The government doctors claimed they were unable to provide evidence linking depleted uranium to the cancer and birth defects because the sanctions prevented them from obtaining necessary testing equipment. Subsequently, a World Health Organization team visited Basra and proposed a study to investigate the causes of higher cancer rates in southern Iraq, but Saddam refused.

Related Topics:
Depleted uranium - World Health Organization

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The World Health Organization was nonetheless able to assess the health risks of Depleted Uranium in a post-combat environment thanks to a 2001 mission to Kosovo. A 2001 WHO fact sheet on depleted uranium concludes: "because DU is only weakly radioactive, very large amounts of dust (on the order of grams) would have to be inhaled for the additional risk of lung cancer to be detectable in an exposed group. Risks for other radiation-induced cancers, including leukaemia, are considered to be very much lower than for lung cancer." In addition, "no reproductive or developmental effects have been reported in humans" as a result of DU exposure. http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/env/du/en/

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The U.S. Department of State has also published a fact sheet on depleted uranium. It states: "World Health Organization and other scientific research studies indicate Depleted Uranium poses no serious health risks" and "epleted Uranium does not cause birth defects. Iraqi military use of chemical and nerve agents in the 1980's and 1990's is the likely cause of alleged birth defects among Iraqi children." In regard to cancer claims, the fact sheet states that "ccording to environmental health experts, it is medically impossible to contract leukemia as a result of exposure to uranium or depleted uranium," and "ancer rates in almost 19,000 highly exposed uranium industry workers who worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory projects between 1943 and 1947 have been examined, and no excess cancers were observed through 1974. Other epidemiological studies of lung cancer in uranium mill and metal processing plant workers have found either no excess cancers or attributed them to known carcinogens other than uranium, such as radon." http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/state/1007dufactsheet.htm

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However, some claim that the effect is more severe as the Depleted Uranium ammunition would fragment into tiny particles when it hit the target. http://www.ccnr.org/du_hague.html

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