An interesting letter to the editor appeared in the Sarasota (Fl.) Herald Tribune on March 26th from a Vietnam veteran who put some perspective on the Iraqi war and the daily death tolls and injuries reported by the US media.

He said, “I fully understand the meaning of war.  I take nothing away from anyone who has served or will serve our country.

“What I take offense to are daily death counts for a war zone.”

He went on to say, if people want to see numbers, why not give them the number of deaths in the United States on a daily basis.

CNN reports the Iraqi death/injury rate nightly on the Lou Dobbs program.

But he does not report the daily death toll in a non war zone, namely the United States.

Here are the stats:  Some 4,000 soldiers have been killed in Iraq, another 29,395 have been wounded over a period of 5 years.

In the United States on a daily basis, there are 10 drownings, 65 poisonings, 120 from motor vehicle accidents 170 from flu and pneumonia, 195 Alzheimer’s deaths, 205 diabetic deaths, 1,785 from heart disease and 81 firearm deaths — or 2,631 deaths a day for the year 2005 according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Where are you CNN on these catastrophic daily deaths?

The writer of this letter, Ron Snavely of Sarasota, makes a very pervasive point and addresses it to the media: “If you are going to use numbers , make them meaningful and, more important, useful.”

I couldn’t agree more as an individual who has served his country in the armed services.  Perspective and history is an important part of reporting the news and when the media plays politics — as CNN does in reporting statistics with out perspective — they are no better than the politicians of today who fabricate stories for their own political gain.