The situation is even better for blacks when one considers that blacks are 30% of the armed forces, so in that regard they are even more disproportionately UNDER-represented as to deaths.

If I may make a blatant plug, I wrote a post today showing that it is safer for blacks in the military than in most major cities: Iraq Safer than 12 major US Cities

When I came back, and through the years, it was always claimed by the left that the black soldiers were cannon fodder. That is probably why Charlie Rangle thought his research would work out for his viewpoint. What he didn’t know was, that after the Vietnam War, studies showed that black soldiers died at slightly less than their representative numbers in the general population. As a white soldier do I resent this? No, not in the least. You will never be able to get just the right numbers of dead and wounded, to make people happy, especially civilians that never served and have political motivations. In a combat unit, you are closer to your brothers, of any color, than you will ever feel toward civilians. Death brings people very close.

As for Tillman (statistics courses). I personally wouldn’t even talk about what the white population is unless you have a universal draft. People, of all different races, join up for thousands of different reasons. In Vietnam, I served with a man from Ireland and another from Canada. When I was in, I never resented people who had safer jobs. I liked getting my mail and a hot meal when I could. And I didn’t resent the people who made it possible.

I was an enlisted man, and I have a few words for any lefty who may read this. When I came back, I had guys like you, when they found out I had served, say “I wouldn’t ever serve, for this country.” It happened at least twice or three times. When it does I don’t reply, I am appalled and wonder at the kind of man that would sell his honor so cheap.

We need officers, that have brains, a warm heart and nerves of steel. Where do they come from? They come from our universities, where the population is mostly liberals. Here is an opportunity for them to serve our nation, and what do they do? They fight to keep recruiters off campus and away from those with the courage that they lack. Their commitment is to gays in the military. Remember that hating America is really a self loathing. These are men and women without honor.

God Bless America and Her Armed Forces Personell!

OK, I will now. Remember though, you asked for it.

…the media isn’t simply interested in sensationalism. – Svigor

I don’t believe that I made the claim that sensationalism was the media’s only motivation. Here is what I don’t get: You criticize my argument that sensationalism is the primary concern for news stories, and then you point out just how to sensationalize the story?

I’m glad you left that comment, because I noticed that I had overlooked a vital perspective about this matter.

Viewing this through the lens of race, taking the breakdown of race in the military into consideration is important. But what is even more important is to consider the race percentages in our general population. Ideally, there should be some equity there, right? I mean if 75 % of our population is white, then it would look a little suspicious if 95% of the casualties were white, wouldn’t it?

But get this. According to the 2000 census, the U.S. population is 75% white. So if only 71% of the casualties are white, then there is really nothing to complain about, is there? What’s more, if you ask me, not only is the article placed well in the back of the paper, its spin is to the right, not the left. You really don’t have a reason then, to get your shorts all in a bind.

If you want to scoff about something, I’ll tell give you a clue. According to the 2000 census, the U.S. population is 12% black. So I suppose you could argue that since the casualty rate is only 9% black, then black people are getting away with something. But I’m not sure that a 3% difference is statistically significant in a sample of just 1,841. I doubt that it is. (I’ve taken statistics courses – even one a graduate level – but it has been a long while and I don’t remember off hand how to determine if that 3% is indeed statistically significant.)

Patterico, stories that have shock value or which enrage people are judged by news organizations tend to make the first page. Since there are more white folks than black folks in this country, “More white people than black people are killed in Iraq” doesn’t carry much shock or outrage value. So if it doesn’t make the first page, then that’s no surprise.

You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve read a lot of obscurantism posing as insiderism vis-a-vis the media and how it operates in the last few years, but this is a new one (this subject oddly generates a lot of original speculation, contrary to most leftist rhetoric I deal with).

First of all, the media isn’t simply interested in sensationalism. If it was, black crime would be in the forefront, not suppressed as it is. Black crime would make for great numbers.

There’s some money the media doesn’t want.

To get to the point, you speciously cite the headline as evidence that this story lacks “sensational power.” Unfortunately for your obscurantism, the headline is a total misrepresentation of the kernel of the story. Whites are overrepresented among the dead, and blacks hugely underrepresented. That’s sensational.

Thank you for playing, I hope you try again, have a nice day.

You heard it right: apparently Dick Cheney is too old to be Vice President. However, Rangel has lost on two main points here:…

I found myself thinking about this last night. Suppose it showed that blacks were marginally more likely to become casualties. Should we then march all the white folks to the front lines to even up the numbers? Since it shows the opposite should we now march all the black folks up to the front? We have an all volunteer military after all.

Maybe Rangel really, sincerely wants us to have a draft. You think he believes there would or could be such a thing as a “fair” draft? Maybe he thinks the Vietnam era draft was fair. How would we do that anyway, what would we base the numbers on? The census, with computerized projections by race, so we could have exactly, precisely the correct number of each race? Or maybe Charlie wants only white folks to serve in the military, or would like to segregate it like it was prior to WWII. Then blacks could be the cooks and mechanics and stewards and not serve in combat units at all.

The irony of this, for anyone that knows the history and thinks about it a bit is just incredible. Do you think Rangel knows that serving in a combat arena and getting a combat action ribbon is a dream come true for any career military?

Honestly. This is so damn stupid.

UPDATE: Unless you meant blacks are disproportionately UNDERrepresented in forward combat units — that is true.

“everyone knows more blacks get killed in wars because of their poverty/social inequities”

the paper would run the story everyone expects big as life and twise as ugly

when something challenges established wisdom it gets buried. When it challenges established wisdom after a demagouge like rangel put it forward it deserved attention

and you didn’t need a study to find this out. Blacks are disproportionately in forward combat units ( smaller then their percentage of the us population)

BTW, I wasn’t calling anyone a racist, so your calling me one is unnecessary.

“You are basically admitting that since this news is important to republicans, it should be on the first page. So your bias is showing. ”

Since it was the point of a Congressional Investigaation, it should be of importance to EVERYONE.

I daresay Tillman’s racist bias is not only showing, it’s BLATENT, along with his naiveté.