The Cost Of 11 Years Of War

Chart: Congressional Research Service

The Cost Of War Includes At Least 253,330 Brain Injuries and 1,700 Amputations -- Danger Room

Here are indications of the lingering costs of 11 years of warfare. Nearly 130,000 U.S. troops have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and vastly more have experienced brain injuries. Over 1,700 have undergone life-changing limb amputations. Over 50,000 have been wounded in action. As of Wednesday, 6,656 U.S. troops and Defense Department civilians have died.

That updated data (.pdf) comes from a new Congressional Research Service report into military casualty statistics that can sometimes be difficult to find — and even more difficult for American society to fully appreciate. It almost certainly understates the extent of the costs of war.

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My Comment: These are U.S. casualties .... I imagine that for Iraq and Afghanistan the casualties are multiple times these numbers.

Will The Deaths Of 50 US Soldiers Get Their Attention?

U.S. soldiers leave Combat Outpost Giro in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, July 23, 2012. The soldiers are assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 3rd Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andrew Baker

America To Take Haqqani Network, Pakistan Seriously -- Threat Matrix

This July 31 article in The New York Times displays the horse-has-left-the-barn mentality that is prevalent in higher echelons of the US government when it comes to terrorist threats and Pakistan. According to the report, the US government won't take the threat of the Haqqani Network and Pakistan's support of the terror group seriously unless another mass-casualty attack occurs against US forces in Afghanistan.

But a new boldness from the Haqqanis that aims at mass American casualties, combined with simmering political tension, has reduced the room for ambiguity between the two countries. Inside the administration, it is a commonly held view that the United States is "one major attack" away from unilateral action against Pakistan -- diplomatically or perhaps even militarily, one senior official said.

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My Comment: After 10 years of continuous war the US has not experienced a mass casualty event .... i.e. more than 50 killed in one attack. I call this incredible luck .... but realistically .... one cannot expect this luck to continue.

Update: Pakistan to launch another Potemkin offensive in North Waziristan -- Long War Journal

U.S. Soldiers Are Still Dying In Iraq

Under the morning sun, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew chief starts to remove the fly away gear from a helicopter during a preflight inspection on Camp Taji, Iraq, Sept. 24, 2009. The Black Hawk crew is assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division's, 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Travis Zielinski

In Iraq, ‘We’re Still Getting Hit’ -- At War/New York Times

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, Iraq — Soldiers were playing football in the sunset of a long day and a longer war, their shadows tilting across fields of packed dirt. It was Monday, and this base in Diyala Province had the casual air of a heavily armed college campus:

Shouts and whistles from the sidelines. Thanksgiving decorations papering the dining hall. The easy laughter of soldiers strolling through the evening. You would not have been able to tell that an American soldier from a nearby unit had been killed a day earlier.

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My Comment: Iraq's sectarian hatreds and a cultural mindset for revenge will mean there will be continuous low level warfare for the foreseeable future. The only thing that is keeping the place together is the US presence, more symbolic than actual for the moment. Unfortunately, it will also mean the loss of US soldiers even though precautions are taken to minimize U.S. - Iraqi contact.

A Bad Day For U.S. Troops

U.S. Army soldiers prepare for a dismounted patrol through the Tangi Valley in Wardak province, Afghanistan, Aug. 28, 2009. The soldiers are assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s Company A, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade

4 Soldiers Killed In Deadliest Day For U.S. Troops In Iraq Since June 29 -- L.A. Times

Seven U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq in all of August. Six Iraqi policemen die in attacks in the Kirkuk region of the country.

Reporting from Baghdad and Amerli, Iraq - Four U.S. soldiers were killed in bomb blasts in northern Iraq and Baghdad today , while six Iraqi policemen died in attacks in the north.

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4 Americans Killed In Attack In Afghanistan -- AP

KABUL — Four U.S. troops died Tuesday in a militant attack in eastern Afghanistan, and NATO forces acknowledged for the first time that civilians were among the dozens killed in an airstrike on two hijacked fuel trucks.

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My Comment: 8 soldiers killed, a number of others wounded. What can I say but think of the families and hope that their sacrifice was not in vain.