Injuries of war

Today's headlines announced that another Czech soldier died in Afghanistan on Wed. Battle deaths produce large headlines in other countries too, but there's a trend in the U.S. toward looking more at the number of injured soldiers instead of just the deaths. Compared to other wars, the number of coalition deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan is relatively low, but the number of injuries is high. Advances in body armor and weaponry mean that soldiers who might have died in earlier wars are "merely" being injured today. This creates hidden war costs in terms of medical care and disability benefits for the injured veterans. Only one Czech died on Wed., but three suffered serious or moderate injuries. Army Chief of Staff Vlastimil Picek said Czechs will have to get used to the idea of soldiers returning home injured. At some point, this might become a bigger issue than the deaths themselves. [Czech Republic casualties]