National Guard Deaths .... Oops

Chalk up another one for the unblemished record of mainstream journalism. USA Today now says its Dec. 13 story on National Guard deaths was based on inaccurate data supplied by the Army.

The Pentagon simply explained that it couldn't provide a "precise" count of part-time soldier deaths. Of course.

"On Monday, Guard spokesman Scott Woodham said 90,972 Guard troops had been ordered to Iraq, but he could not say how many had actually gotten there, and how many were in mobilization stations or on their way," USA Today reported. "Woodham ... said that personnel at Guard headquarters had misread a series of numbers on a spreadsheet and that accounted for the lower figure."

Huh. Misread numbers on a spreadsheet. Well, that might explain the military's unimpeachable estimates on the number of troops needed to bring stability to Iraq -- not to mention the amount of armor needed to keep those aforementioned troops alive.

But wait, there's more. Woodham later told the newspaper he “misunderstood the question” -- whoops! -- when asked how many Army National Guard troops had been deployed to the war.

Even so, our intrepid spokesman conceded that a higher percentage of National Guard troops have died in the Iraq War than in past conflicts. Part-time troops, he said, currently comprise about 40 percent of U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq.

Boy, our President sure did pick the right time to enlist in the National Guard. It's sure no cakewalk these days.

Guess this'll teach all those naysayers who scoffed that Dubya took the easy way out during Vietnam.