If Gaza’s Dead Were America’s Dead

On the face of it, the casualty figures in Gaza may seem not that horrific to Americans—unless you transpose that same level of death and mayhem to the United States, 176 times the population of Gaza.

For instance, so far reportedly 571 Palestinians have been killed, including 154 children. Total wounded: 3,550, of which 1125 are children.

If the United States were to be hit by a similar onslaught, the number of Americans killed–mostly in the past five days–would be 101,000, of which 27,000 would be  children. The number of Americans wounded would be 627,000, of which 198,000 are children.

Another comparison:

That number of dead would be almost twice the number that the United States lost in 10 years of fighting in Vietnam. (58,000).

It would almost equal the 116,000 American soldiers killed in World War I.

It would be more than one third of the Americans killed (291,000) fighting between 1941 and 1945 in World War II.

It would almost equal, however, the total number of American soldiers wounded. (670,000) in WWII.

And remember:

– the great majority of those Palestinian deaths have occurred in just five days.

–a large proportion of those dead and injured were not soldiers.

And the slaughter continues.

BARRY LANDO is a former producer for 60 Minutes who now lives in Paris. He is the author of The Watchman’s File. He can be reached at: barrylando@gmail.com or through his website.

BARRY LANDO is a former producer for 60 Minutes. He is the author of  “Deep Strike” a novel about Russian hacking, rogue CIA agents, and a new American president. He can be reached at: barrylando@gmail.com or through his website.