When Is a Wound Not a Wound?

When the Department of Veterans Affairs says it isn't.

That explains the precipitous drop – from 50,508 to 21,649 – for the number of troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan on the VA’s website earlier this month.

The VA says that it no longer considers injuries from accidents and mental and physical illnesses that developed in a war zone to be wounds, while injuries inflicted by the enemy are.

About 1.4 million troops have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and more than 205,000 have sought care from the VA, including more than 73,000 who sought treatment for mental problems like post-traumatic stress disorder.

So you flip out because of the stresses of combat and . . . sorry, Charlie, you're not wounded.

Funny how those non-hostile injuries have a way of being serious.

Of the more than 3,000 deaths that U.S. troops have suffered in Iraq, 600 are considered non-hostile.

More here.