URI FRIEDMAN
Atlantic Wire
August 30, 2011
The Associated Press is reporting this morning that August has been the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the nearly 10-year-old war in Afghanistan, as the U.S. military begins to carry out President Obama’s plan to withdraw 10,000 troops this year and another 23,000 by the summer of 2012. Sixty-six U.S. troops have died so far this month, according to an AP tally, surpassing the 65 killed in July 2010.
The milestone is significant, especially since it indicates that violence is persisting across the nation “despite the U.S.-led coalition’s drive to rout insurgents from their strongholds in the south,” according to the AP. But there are also important caveats to point out when assessing today’s news. First, August’s tally includes the 30 Americans who were killed when insurgents shot down their Chinook helicopter, in the single deadliest incident of the war. The number of casualties would therefore have nearly been cut in half had it not been for the attack, which raised concerns about America’s ability to realize its goals in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s new military strategies and capabilities.
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