Two Sets of Casualty Numbers

ABC's Bob Woodruf received the best civilian and military health care in the world as he recovered from the traumatic brain injury he suffered while covering the War in Iraq.

Most of our soldiers aren't so lucky. Many are sent home to smaller cities and towns that don't have hospitals or specialists equipped to deal with severe traumatic wounds. Their chances of recovery, unlike Woodruf's, are dismal.

All of this and more is covered in an ABC special tonight entitled "To Iraq and Back." It sounds well worth the watch.

Woodruf, to his credit, exposes the Bush administration's manipulation of casualty data.

While the Department of Defense puts the number at 23,000, the Department of Veterans Affairs has documented treating more than 200,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan including 73,000 for mental disorers and 61,000 with diseases of the nervous system.

Paul Sullivan, a director for Veterans for America, explains the discrepancy:"What you have is two sets of books!"

Keeping two sets of numbers is standard practice for the Bush administration as anyone who has followed their budget machinations knows. But in this case, just like after Katrina, they are playing with the lives and futures of our countrymen!