More than we lost at Iwo Jima

[jon-nyc]

WASHINGTON — In 36 days of fighting on Iwo Jima during World War II, nearly 7,000 Marines were killed. Now, 20 days after President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia invaded Ukraine, his military has already lost more soldiers, according to American intelligence estimates.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/16/us/politics/russia-troop-deaths.html

[Jolly]

Yeah, but look at the Japanese casualties. Also, note the difference in size between the battlefields and the lethality of the weapons systems.

[jon-nyc]

Fair point, but to modernize it a bit, they've also lost more than we did in 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

[LuFins Dad]

@jon-nyc said in More than we lost at Iwo Jima:

Fair point, but to modernize it a bit, they've also lost more than we did in 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

I'm not sure that any of these comparisons really work well. We haven't really seen a conflict in a 1st world theater between two contemporary military powers since WWII, and while Iwo Jima was a battle between contemporary powers, it certainly wasn't a 1st world theater.

[George K]

@jon-nyc said in More than we lost at Iwo Jima:

Fair point, but to modernize it a bit, they've also lost more than we did in 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

Compare to the 50K that we lost in Vietnam, over how many years?

And the Russians are up to 20% of that?

[Doctor Phibes]

I think it's fair to say that Putin has really fucked this up. He can't have been expecting this.

[Mik]

All of which assumes the number is reasonably dependable. Fact not in evidence.