studying current wars v. historic wars...

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Paul Saffo <psaffo () iftf org>
Date: September 11, 2005 11:02:18 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: studying current wars v. historic wars...


Mr. Bray's analogy is flawed.  Analyzing the effects of a war still  
in progress is profoundly different than studying a war that has  
already concluded.  The latter is the province of historians, while  
the former  provides valuable inputs into an ongoing policy process.
-p

On Sep 10, 2005, at 5:21 PM, David Farber wrote:



> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: h_bray () globe com
> Date: September 10, 2005 8:04:32 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Re: [IP] more on "War on Terra" saves few lives, expert says
>
>
> I'm always bewildered when people put out silly "studies" like this  
> one.
> What on earth does it prove?  One could just as easily say that  
> fighting
> the American Civil War saved few lives, and so the South should  
> have been
> allowed to secede.  Or that Britain should have allowed Napoleon  
> free rein
> in Europe.  Both these decisions would have saved countless lives.   
> Yet I
> don't think too many sane people would today say that the Civil War  
> or the
> Napoleonic Wars were a complete waste of time.
>
> Which of course is the point.  Whether a war is worth fighting  
> depends on
> whether the causes are just and sufficient to justify the shedding of
> blood.  And studies like this one have precisely nothing to say on  
> that
> subject.
>
>
>
> Hiawatha Bray
>
>
>
>
>              David Farber
>              <dave () farber net>
>                                                                        
>   To
>              09/10/2005 09:59
>              AM                        Ip Ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
>                                                                        
>   cc
>
>              Please respond to
>               dave () farber net
>
>
>                                                                     
> Subject
>                                        [IP] more on  "War on Terra"  
> saves
>                                        few lives, expert says
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: ken kousky <kkousky () ip3inc com>
> Date: September 10, 2005 9:23:28 AM EDT
> To: dave () farber net, 'Ip Ip' <ip () v2 listbox com>
> Subject: RE: [IP] "War on Terra" saves few lives, expert says
>
>
> By far, the most deadly threat to American's today is a pandemic bird
> flu.
>
> Europe is seeing a real epidemic of bird flu as we focus on Katrina  
> and
> again we are completely unprepared.
>
> It is noteworthy that even the FBI's security and risk assessment
> reports
> are actively tracking the bird flu in Europe. The danger is a "cross-
> over"
> to a human variant - a real possibility. A risk to be managed.
>
> Until we get better at looking seriously at expected losses
> analytically and
> then treating a reduction in risk as a real economic benefit, we're  
> not
> likely to see things change.
>
> Ken Kousky
> IP3
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
> Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 8:48 AM
> To: Ip Ip
> Subject: [IP] "War on Terra" saves few lives, expert says
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com>
> Date: September 8, 2005 10:24:54 PM EDT
> To: Dave <dave () farber net>
> Subject: "War on Terra" saves few lives, expert says
>
>
> http://tinyurl.com/d5pl6
> "War on terror" saves few lives: expert
> By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent 6 minutes ago
>
> The U.S. "war on terror" is saving fewer lives than just spending the
> money on disease prevention and research, and has probably caused  
> deaths
> by taking money away from basic services, an expert said on Thursday.
>
> The accusation is not new, but Dr. Erica Frank of the Department of
> Family and Preventive Medicine at Emory University School of  
> Medicine in
> Atlanta said she has calculated the cost, in terms of lives, of the  
> Bush
> administration's terror policies.
>
> "The most recent effects of these diversions of funding have been seen
> in the unfolding tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the
> surrounding area," Frank wrote in a commentary published in the  
> British
> Medical Journal.
>
> "Governments must protect their citizens, and anticipating these
> possible future threats is appropriate and could prove essential to
> Americans' health."
>
> Frank warned there is a threat that because of the U.S. government's
> policy, enormous numbers of Americans will die unnecessarily.
>
> On September 11, 2001, 3,400 people died because of the four  
> intentional
> plane crashes in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. But 5,200  
> other
> Americans died that same day from common diseases, according to Frank.
>
> To estimate how many Americans died of routine causes on September 11,
> Frank used national estimates of mortality from various causes.
>
> "Predictable tragedies happen every day. We know strategies to reduce
> deaths from tobacco, alcohol, poor diet, unintentional injuries, and
> other predictable causes. And we know that millions of people will die
> unless we protect the population against these routine causes of  
> death,"
> she wrote.
>
> Yet more money is spent to protect against deaths that are not  
> likely to
> happen.
>
> "For example, in September 2002, New York was awarded $1.3 million to
> reduce heart disease, the leading killer of New Yorkers, while $34
> million was awarded for bioterrorism preparedness in the state," Frank
> added.
>
> Proponents have argued that bioterror preparedness would build up the
> public health structure in general.
>
> "If this is an improvement it sure is frightening to think what this
> might have looked like before," Frank said in a telephone interview.
>
> She cited numerous reports showing the federal government cut spending
> to reinforce the levees built to protect New Orleans from the flood  
> that
> has devastated the city.
>
> "Since the point of investing in counterterror is to protect American
> lives, the question is a dollar better spent in Iraq or is it better
> spent here?" she asked.
>
>
> --
> "We've got the hatemongers who literally hate this president, and that
> is so wrong. . . . The people who hate George Bush hate him because  
> he's
> a follower of Jesus Christ, unashamedly says so and applies his  
> faith in
> his day-to-day operations." -- Rev. Jerry Falwell, on C-SPAN's
> "Washington Journal"
>
>
>
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