US Military Casualty Statistics, and More from CRS
A sobering compilation of statistics on injuries sustained by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan was updated this week by the Congressional Research Service based in part on data that CRS gathered from the Pentagon.
“This report includes statistics on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), amputations, evacuations, and the demographics of casualties,” the CRS report said. “Some of these statistics are publicly available at the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) website, whereas others have been obtained through contact with experts at DOD.” See U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: Operation New Dawn, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom, February 5, 2013.
Another newly updated CRS report presents an informative and diverting account of politics in China.
“China’s Communist Party dominates state and society in China, is committed to maintaining a permanent monopoly on power, and is intolerant of those who question its right to rule. Nonetheless, analysts consider China’s political system to be neither monolithic nor rigidly hierarchical. Jockeying among leaders and institutions representing different sets of interests is common at every level of the system.” See Understanding China’s Political System, January 31, 2013.
And for good measure there is a CRS report on the legal foundation for public access to government records. See Access to Government Information In the United States: A Primer, January 16, 2013.
There is no legal foundation that would guarantee public access to CRS reports. So they have to be obtained through alternate channels.
This report serves as a landscape assessment and toolbox from which local governments can negotiate an informed position when it comes to the levers available to them and includes a first-of-its kind analysis of eight executed community benefits agreements.
When a hurricane hits, it’s all hands on deck – that goes for federal data, too. Pulling back from our investments in timely, accurate, and accessible public data will only make us less prepared and put us all at greater risk.
This is bigger than a singular elimination of race and ethnicity questions. It could accelerate the second wave of widespread reductions to demographic data, leaving public health officials with even less information to deliver better health outcomes for all Americans.
Soft law was never meant to be a permanent solution. Treating it as one, and letting the sandcastle stand in for the skyscraper indefinitely, is how we end up with a decade of voluntary commitments and no enforceable accountability to show for it.