Chapter 1159: Killed in action?

The pensions that the families of soldiers who died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are composed of several parts.

The pensions are paid a few hours after the soldier is killed. The first is the "death allowance", which is $6,000, not much. This money belongs to the funeral expenses. After the funeral, the US military will pay a large death allowance to their relatives, and ordinary soldiers will receive about $100,000. Next is life insurance, and most soldiers can receive insurance worth $250,000. In addition, there is a compensation plan of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The spouses of fallen soldiers can also receive $948 per month (each child can also receive $237) until death or remarriage. In addition, these families can also enjoy 3 years of free medical insurance and a large amount of college allowances.

Normally, the death pension of an ordinary soldier is about $360,000. Add to the monthly compensation for the family members, and the conservative estimate is definitely more than $500,000.

Of course, the pension is also linked to the military rank of the soldier. The higher the rank, the higher the pension.

In this case, there is a huge gap between the direct death pension and the indirect death compensation.

American soldiers have been protesting against the "death standard", but unfortunately, it has achieved little success.

Every year, the families of American soldiers who died protested, but unfortunately, the "death standard" has not been changed for so many years.

Speaking of which, it is not easy for American soldiers to be "killed in action". It is not enough to die in the war. They must also meet a series of audit indicators. If any of the factors such as the time and place of death do not meet the standards, it will not be considered "killed in action", even if the American soldiers died one minute later.

The premise of death is "after the superior issued the combat order", that is, if the superior did not issue the combat order, the soldiers would not be considered "killed in action" if they died unfortunately during the patrol, or fought with the enemy head-on, or were attacked by the enemy.

For example, the superior issued a combat order to attack Guerrilla A, but during the march, the American soldiers suffered from other armed forces, such as Guerrilla B. Even if the American soldiers died, they could not be considered "killed in action". In addition, being killed by friendly forces by mistake does not count.

Only when you are in a firefight with someone who is planned as an enemy in the combat order on the battlefield, if you unfortunately die, it is possible to be considered "killed in action", but it is only "possible"!

Because the most stringent point is that American soldiers must die on the spot during the confrontation, regardless of whether they are combat personnel, logistics soldiers, communications soldiers, or medical soldiers, regardless of whether the place of death is the front line or the rear, and regardless of whether the side uses weapons, but the conditions of "death on the spot" are extremely harsh.

To give an easy-to-understand example, a US soldier was hit by an enemy bullet and died on the battlefield when he was dying. But at this time, the medical team of the country came and carried the soldier on a stretcher after a busy period, intending to transfer him to the rear hospital for rescue. As a result, the soldier died just one minute after lying on the stretcher. In this case, it is not considered killed in action, but regarded as "other reasons"!

In addition, the last requirement of "killed in action" is that the soldier's identity and face must be identifiable. If a soldier's face is severely injured after death and cannot be identified, and the ID card cannot be found, even if the dead soldier is really this person, he can only be considered "missing". Of course, his family will not receive a series of compensation for the dead soldiers.

For example, the soldiers who died in the dormitory and other places when the Incerik Air Force Base was attacked by missiles were not killed in action. There are also those who were burned to death or bombed to pieces by missiles. They are not "killed in action", but "missing"!

Liu Tao looked at the news and saw the families of the dead American soldiers and anti-war activists who gathered in front of the White House to protest. A faint smile appeared on his face.

If the United States launched the war in Afghanistan and received the support of most Americans, then the United States launched the Iraq War and there were many voices of opposition in the United States. After all, there is no definite evidence. This is an unjust dispute.

This can be seen from the polls conducted by Americans themselves.

In 2001, the United States launched the war in Afghanistan. At that time, the United States suffered huge casualties and economic losses in 911, and the society was in turmoil. The American people were full of anger, and they were full of anger at Afghanistan for not handing over Bin Laden. Polls showed that 97% of the people supported the war against Afghanistan, and George Walton's poll approval rate also soared to 98%. Almost every American supported George Walton!

But on March 20, 2003, the United States launched the Iraq War, because Powell had previously held a test tube at the United Nations and said that it was evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which was exposed by the media and became a joke. When the Iraq War broke out, 46% of the people in the American polls supported the war against Iraq, less than half, and George Walton's poll approval rate also fell by 60%!

Americans are not all fools, and traditional media cannot cover the sky with one hand. With the booming Internet today, young people can get more information online. There are a lot of news about the battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq on the Internet, as well as various interpretations of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This makes it impossible for Americans to rely on traditional media to form an information cocoon as they did in the past.

The huge casualties have made Americans start to give up.

Not to mention that the war has been in a stalemate. From 2001 to now, how much money has the United States invested in the war?

More importantly, the Iraq War was an unjust war, and the Americans did not stand on the moral side. Moreover, after the outbreak of the Iraq War, international crude oil prices soared, and the lives of the American people were greatly affected.

Oil, as the industrial blood of modern society, has an impact on all aspects.

Even if the United States releases strategic reserve oil, it will not work.

Because of market panic and the deindustrialization of the United States, the United States no longer has low-end manufacturing, and has lost a large part of mid-end manufacturing. Most of the American industry is high-end manufacturing.

American daily necessities have to rely on imports.

Because of the rise in oil prices, the production costs of foreign products have increased, and the transportation costs have also increased, so the prices in the United States have naturally increased.

The wool comes from the sheep!

This has been the same since ancient times.

We are not fools. It is impossible for us to work hard to produce goods and lose money to give them to Americans for use!

It is impossible for the US oil and gas companies to sell oil cheaply to the American people just because the US is at war. They also sell it according to the international oil and gas prices.

In addition, the relatives and friends of the soldiers who were killed and wounded are increasingly opposed to this in the US.

Liu Tao believes that one day, this voice will be so loud that it will be the last straw that breaks the camel's back. (End of this chapter)