Letter to Sen. James Webb RE: Non-Combat Related Deaths

Dear Senator Webb,

I received an e-mail from you dated December 16, 2008 in which you said you had referred my questions about non-related combat deaths of our soldiers in Iraq to the Defense Department.

I know it's a huge agency with much on its plate, but, alas, more than a month later and no reply!

The Washington Post listed yesterday the names of five more of our soldiers killed in Iraq (p. A-13), and of these, SIXTY PERCENT died as a result of "non-combat related" causes. I researched their names and found on the Web that one died as the result of a forklift accident and one died from a gunshot wound. (His father was quoted in the local press, and he was quoting the military.)

Above the names of these dead soldiers was a story about the crashes of two U.S. helicopters which killed four U.S. servicemen. It was listed as "non-combat related."

I would like to know about all the "non-combat related" deaths of our troops, their causes, and what changes Defense is making to stop these tragedies. Are our troops not trained adequately? Is Defense rushing troops to Iraq with insufficient training and therefore, equipment and gun accidents happen more frequently than in prior combat? Than on Army bases? A comparison would be revealing. We read constantly about the Army's lowering its standards to accept those without a high school diploma and to accept some with criminal charges which may factor in "non-combat related" deaths.

With the decline in our activity in Iraq, media, and therefore public, attention dwindles, and we tend to forget about 150,000 troops stationed there which plays to Defense's hands to ignore questions about anything Iraq.

With your military knowledge, experience, and interest, I would think Defense would pay more attention to you and to your requests for explanations. An entire summary of these deaths and their causes may shatter the public's mindset about our troops' training, or it may not. Whatever, since it is our money, time, equipment, and most importantly, human resources, we deserve to know.

Sincerely,
Patriciadc