Forget Hummer Parts; We Need Prosthetics!
by Joe Pulcinella
From the Boston Globe:
The US armed forces are blowing through fake limbs as though they're going out of style.
US troops injured in Iraq have required limb amputations at twice the rate of past wars, and as many as 20 percent have suffered head and neck injuries that may require a lifetime of care, according to new data giving the clearest picture yet of the severity of battlefield wounds.
But would everything be better if the aforementioned government limb program could keep up? Not at all. The net result is that America's finest are coming home as glorified (and sometimes not so glorified) welfare recipients requiring life-long medical treatmeant and care.
But those who survive have much more grievous wounds. Bulletproof Kevlar vests protect soldiers' bodies but not their limbs, as insurgent snipers and makeshift bombs tear off arms and legs and rip into faces and necks. More than half of those injured sustain wounds so serious they cannot return to duty, according to Pentagon statistics.
Sad. But here's the kicker:
"Amputee research has never been a high priority because it's not . . . fashionable," said Aaron. "Iraq has changed that."
Some real sicko in Washington might argue that this dispells the truth behind the broken window fallacy.
Several other thoughts occur to me after reading this story; 1) The Iraqi insurgents are following Jack Welch's advice. By concentrating on what they know (killing and maiming people and light vehicles) and abandoning attacks on heavily-armed and / or fortified targets, they build a competitive edge relative to their size and resources. 2) The insurgents are decentralized, flexible forces, adaptable to changes seen in the field. They see what works (attacking personnel and Humvees) and what doesnt' (attacking heavily-armored and fortified targets like tanks and bases), and these lessons are quickly applied by all. The U.S. military is highly bureaucratized and micromanaged for political reasons, and so adapts only very slowly to evolving conditions, by which time the insurgents have anticipated and outsmarted them. 3)Last year, all we heard about was how the U.S. troops didn't have enough body armor, meaning Kevlar vests. Now that they apparently do have enough vests, the insurgents have reconfigured their attacks somehow to focus on limbs and heads versus vital organ-containing torsos. It's horrifying and fascinating at the same time.
Coincidentally, I am now re-reading "Economics In One Lesson" But my eyes bugged out when I read the Mises.com piece you linked to in your article - I was STUNNED to see that Larry Kudlow had actually said, not one, but several statements of stunning economic ignorance. I wouldn't buy a popsicle off that guy's recommendation.
