Quote Originally Posted by Hamlet
.....but back to business.


U.S. fatalities in war exceed those from Sept. 11

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14959937/

A new study on the war dead and where they come from suggests that the notion of â??rich manâ??s war, poor manâ??s fightâ?ť has become a little truer over time.

Among the Americans killed in the Iraq war, 34 percent have come from communities reporting the lowest levels of family income. Half have come from middle income communities and only 17 percent from the highest income level.
The recent armed forces recruiting strategy has been to concentrate on having volunteers from the upper and middle level economic groups, as well as lower. "Only" 17 percent from the highest income level is probably a decent number, considering that there is a small percentage of the population in that group. I was surprised that it was that high. There are always more poor than rich, but a 2 to 1 lower/upper ratio in the forces is much higher (in terms of the numbers of rich people serving) than the amount of rich vs poor civilians.